


Helpless

by Eternatus



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Basically it's the same story line but not the same... at the same time, Careful for the injury descriptions, Disabled Ash, Gen, I don't want to add every character again, Major whump this time around, Sorry if I don't make sense, This is the Time Will Heal All rewrite, This might be a whole lot darker that before, You'll see it when you read it, and the swearing, be warned, biblical references used occasionally
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:20:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 159,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23667505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternatus/pseuds/Eternatus
Summary: The disabled population is the world's largest minority of which anyone can become a part of at any time."Peekaboo," said misfortune and jumped the already weakened boy. Ash wouldn't be Ash if he didn't try to get up again, though he's going to have to face he won't be able to do it on his own.
Comments: 51
Kudos: 172





	1. The First Day of The Rest of Your Life

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, dear readers. This is the first chapter of the promise rewrite. I hope you enjoy it as much or even more than the other~

Miserable.

That's how the young trainer felt as he dragged himself through the exit of the airport. He tried to find some comfort in the faint smell of the sea, the scent of his hometown, but the restaurants in Celadon had managed to overpower the salty air with their abundant usage spices. Ash was left with all kinds of impressions as he walked passed the carts selling street food, ones selling non-Kanto native foods… It used to bring him joy, seeing that all the regions he had visited before had slowly started to spread all their goodness all over, for everyone to enjoy -even though some of the bad things had moved in all the same. But a dull worry had settled into him, ever since he had started to experience issues he couldn't explain or find help for, because he would forget what he had wanted to say about it by the time he found someone willing to listen. And now Ash couldn't help but think he might've overdone it this time. That he had brought something along from Unova that would stick to him for a while.

It didn't help that he was still in his usual funk of having been beaten _again_ , his loss having been broadcasted all over the world, for the entire population of people and pokémon to see. The only perk he figured in having lost the tournament, was that he had been on the first airplane back home, but apart from that, there wasn't much to smile about and Pikachu was being uncharacteristically silent. In fact, the usual 'Don't think so badly of yourself or I'm going to electrocute you and it'll hurt us both' kind of look had become the 'You're not okay and I'm not happy about not being able to do anything about it'. It didn't help ease the teen's worries, because his pokémon had always been there for him. Of course, he would have told his partner all about it, his pokémon needed to know the truth, he had told _all_ of his team about it too, which usually ended up in a snuggle pile… But Ash was _worried_ , for them and himself.

 _God_ yes, he had massive fun at Unova and he had met so many awesome people and pokémon he would never forget about and while that was exactly what a journey was all about, he just wished he had some kind of proof that he hadn't been to the region for a holiday. Proof that would show his pokémon he wasn't full of hot air when going in to renew his promise to them, that they would be aiming for the top next time. Instead, all he had now was proof he had bad aim and that wasn't anything a pokémon valued.

"Pikapi." The pokémon on his lap stated dully.

Ash shot up and belatedly realised he had nearly missed his stop. If Pikachu hadn't called out to him, they would have been stuck on this bus until it went to Lavender Town and the teen didn't need any more ghosts next to the ones he already had in his head. He grinned sheepishly at the driver who had needed to open the door a second time, as he hadn't been fast enough to slip through it the first time and just when he thought he was done making a fool out of himself, a dizzy spell came over him. He ended up landing face-first into Viridian native soil, groaning because the dizziness once more reminded him something was wrong.

"It's just not my day, is it?" he sighed and just as he had gotten up, he saw the group of teenagers laughing and pointing at him.

Completely out of character, the teen snarled and flipped the bird at them, not caring that one of them had their phone out and aimed towards him. He quickly turned his back to them and marched off in a not entirely straight line. It didn't matter to him that he was swaying a bit right now, Ash just wanted to get away from that bloody bus and forget about the incident as quickly as possible.

"Pichu, pi…"

"I don't care." He sniffed, wiping at his eyes, pissed and sad at the same time. "They were rude to me first."

Pikachu somehow made no move to jump on his shoulder and that all made it a bit worse for the young trainer, who often found solace in his pokémon comforting him. As a result, the teen closed himself off, knowing that he wasn't going to get any empathy from Pikachu and that he was on his own for now. He didn't know that this was the complete opposite of what his partner pokémon had meant to do, but Ash was still angry and would remain that way for a while longer.

He had no one to pull him out of his mood this time around because his mother wasn't even at home when he came back. Ash did wonder where she had gone off to, as he had called her earlier to tell her he would be coming back home... but quickly figured she probably had left to do some grocery shopping or something. He ended up calming down a bit after having gone through the rather tedious ritual of cleaning out his backpack -there was something about sand and the way it could end up getting lodged into the strangest of places- and had just put his clothes into the laundry machine, when he heard a noise in the living room.

"Oh, Pikachu, sweetie, you're already here? Where's Ash at, then?"

The pokémon must have shown her the way, because she met him hallway, in the kitchen.

"Hello, sweetheart." His mother said, grocery bag in one arm and Pikachu in the other. "You're back early."

"Yeah, euhm… I put everything in the washer already."

"Good, now it's just yourself that could use a good clean, hm? Go on, I'll take care of Pikachu."

Ash simply nodded, not caring much about the fact she tended to receive his partner pokémon with a more loving approach than her only son. He did try his best not to be jealous when he noticed it the first time, but by now, all that was left was a dull feeling of disappointment whenever his mom wouldn't even bother hugging him when he came home. No matter what, he was already glad she didn't care much about his results… even though the teen could have done with someone who genuinely seemed to care about what he said. Far too often, his darling, selfless mother would just laugh away his issues, like that time where she had said 'boys will be boys' when Gary and his bullies had pushed him into a Kakuna nest space, included with Beedrill guardians.

Professor Oak, in turn, had lashed out at him, instead of chiding the bullies for their behaviour, which made for a less than ideal situation to grow up in. It was hardly a wonder that he ended up having issues, after all this, but Ash was pretty sure that none of this behaviour had resulted in what he was suffering from. He had, in fact, at first believed that Pikachu's shocks could be to blame for the dizzy spells and temporary memory-loss, too, until he saw a video of someone getting hit by lighting and noticing the terrible burns resulting afterwards. The teen figured that, while his pokémon was stronger than another Pikachu, it was nearly impossible that the pokémon could have anything to do with it, when Ash had never been burned by the electricity before.

Sighing, he started drawing himself a bath, not having missed the not-so-subtle hidden message of his mother's comment on his current body odour. He figured he was better off not overthinking the matter and just being plain honest with someone if they asked what was wrong with him, in case they caught him stumbling about or something. There were just things he couldn't help and people not giving a damn about him was definitely one of them. At least he could still relax a little and with Pikachu downstairs with his mom, there was no chance of any yellow hairs eventually sticking to him. Downsides of having a partner pokémon who wasn't afraid of water or bubbles and was small enough to fit in the bath with him.

After a nice soak, the teen stood and started drying himself… but another dizzy spell caught him unaware and the event that followed would teach him to pull the plug and get out of the bath before starting to dry himself off. Despite his best efforts to keep upright, Ash slipped and fell back into the bath, pulling along the towel inside the water and in true cannonball fashion, launched water and foam _everywhere_. His head had gotten submerged too, but not for long, as the boy's panic took hold of him. Spluttering and rubbing furiously at his eyes, to get the soap out of them, a heartfelt 'shit' eventually erupted from him. Cue his mother _finally_ showing up at the door, thankfully not pulling it open.

"Ash, are you okay in there?"

"I'm doing _great_." He answered, now pissed at himself.

"… If you're sure. Did you drop something?"

"Yeah, myself."

"Sweetheart-"

"I'm _fine_ , mom, I just have a butt load of cleaning to do."

"… There's a rag in the bottom drawer, in case you need it."

From the look of things, he would need more than one rag to get this place dry again, but he sighed and thanked her for the info. It wasn't her fault he had fallen, either, so he stopped himself from acting out against her… even though he was frustrated with himself. How was he supposed to trust himself from doing anything if he couldn't even keep upright? What if his mom asked him to do the dishes and he would go down with one of her favourite plates?

'I need help.' He thought.

And then, after the massive cleaning job, did the worst thing someone with a problem on their mind could do… and that was to Google it.

"… I'm gonna die." The teen uttered, eyes wide and with even wider eyes, clicked on the link that stated issues similar to the ones he was suffering from, could be caused by asphyxiation.

Ash blinked when he suddenly got a series of pictures of people in precarious-looking conditions and got confused as there usually was a small warning on the bags you got from shops, to not pull them over your head… and these idiots still did it. It wasn't until he scrolled down a little further that he came across something that nearly caused him a whiplash, that fast he pulled his head away from the screen. That… was definitely something that would give his computer a series of viruses if he decided to click on that particular link underneath the picture and he quickly closed the tab, figuring he was best off finding professional help.

As luck would have it, his mother told him she had invited professor Oak over for tea, so Ash quickly figured that he could ask the man about it when he came 'round. But his typical Ketchum karma streak kicked in, because the professor had taken his grandson with him and now the chances of having a serious conversation with either the man or the teenager had wilted. Or so he had assumed, yet Gary seemed oddly amicable with him, giving him the first hug he had received since coming back to Kanto and even congratulated him on his results in the Vertress Conference. Even though it sounded kind of hollow to Ash, as there wasn't much to be congratulated for, he appreciated the gesture.

"I was wondering if I could talk a bit, professor." He said, attempting to breach the subject once his mom moved into the kitchen, to go and get the kettle for their tea.

"Of course, my boy. But first I would like to settle something with you, before your mother returns." The professor answered and hastily pulled a folded sheet of paper and a pen out of inner pocket. "I didn't want to say it in front of your mother but you forgot to sign a form and right now, you're still legally present in Unova."

"O-oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that needed to happen." The teen uttered, confused as he hadn't known such a thing existed.

He frowned as he saw that this form came from a pokémon centre… belatedly realising he had forgotten to tell the nurse Joy from said pokémon centre that he was leaving. He had left the key in the right basket, for her to retrieve, but the line to talk to her had been insanely long and he had been in a hurry to catch his flight, much due to wanting to be home, as he hadn't been feeling well.

"Kind of common you need to sign something when you leave a Pokémon Centre," Gary chuckled. "But we all know you're a dim bulb, hence why we wanted to spare your mom from the embarrassment."

"… Thanks." Ash said stoically, not willing to go into detail with that but having taken the insult to heart nonetheless. "Here, I signed it." He added, sliding the form and pen back towards the professor, who quickly folded the paper and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Good. Now, my boy, what did you want to talk about?"

Even if professor Oak had nothing but good intentions, the teen wasn't comfortable to talk about it in front of someone who could insult him so easily. So he muttered a silent 'never mind' and let his mother draw away the man's attention with the tea and cookies she had brought with her. Ash let them talk over his head and eventually left, leaving the 'adults' at it. This time, Pikachu did follow him into his room and silently curled up against his side when the boy went to lay in bed. And even if his partner pokémon was so close to him, so close he could feel the soft fur brush against his fingers, the young trainer felt as if he were all alone in the room. He furiously vowed to himself he would make another attempt to talk to professor Oak, when Gary wasn't there to eat away at his determination. But not right now, because all Ash wanted to do right now, was to curl up and make himself as small as possible. If only he could do that with the issue that was tormenting him right now.

* * *

Professor Oak wasn't suspicious when Delia came in for a visit, as he enjoyed her company. It was odd she was alone, but Ash had only been home for three days and was probably resting. However, from the moment she accepted his polite offer to make her some coffee, he knew something was wrong. On his way to the kitchen, the man could help but look out of the window for a moment, as he couldn't help but worry over the world finally coming to an end. Why so dramatic, you ask? Why, Delia was well-known for making the best coffee and tea in Pallet Town and its neighbouring towns and cities. That she would come down to drink his instant coffee was suspicious enough to believe something was up. And whether or not Delia would be happy to answer his questions, professor Oak was going to get to the bottom of this.

"Here you go, my dear."

"Thank you, Samuel." She said, gently smiling at the man before taking a small sip from the cup.

To her credit, she didn't pull a face, but that fact worried the man even more.

"Alright… What's wrong, Delia?"

"Nothing, really."

He stared at her for a while, causing her to sigh.

"I just needed a change of scenery, that's all."

"… Well, you're quite welcome here, Delia, you know that. I'm sorry if my curiosity is bothering you, but I care about you."

"I know. It's… Ash just became a bit much, that's all."

"But… he hasn't been home for a week yet?" he asked in bewilderment, unable to imagine that the young trainer would suddenly become such a handful.

Ash had plenty of energy, yes, but to drive his mother to the point where she just up and left her house? No, there was something more to this story than the woman was letting up on.

"Has he… made any kind of effort to talk to you?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I've not seen or spoken to him since the day I came by for coffee, my dear, so no, he hasn't."

"Oh…"

"Delia, what's the matter?"

"I just can't seem to have a normal conversation with him, Samuel. He's so unhappy, I don't know what to do. Nothing I say or do can bring a smile to his face and then I drop the lunch he made for me, like the idiot I am and he… he crumbled to pieces, Samuel. I needed to go, he was sobbing so hard, I couldn't stand it."

The professor couldn't help but watch her with his mouth open, because this didn't sound like Ash at all. Cry? In front of his mother, no less? Last time the kid got hurt, he just laughed it away, so what on earth had changed the poor boy so drastically? And just when he tried to remember the last time he had a serious conversation with Ash, he remembered the fact the teen had indeed tried to attempt to talk to him.

"Ah, I just remembered, Ash did want to talk to me about something."

"When?"

"The day he returned, though I don't remember him elaborating on the subject. I think he left the room shortly after as well… At the time, I thought it was because of Gary being a loud smartass again, but I'm starting to doubt that now."

"Oh, Samuel, it's like Red all over again." Delia sighed.

"No, it's not," he huffed, instantly annoyed. "Your husband got tormented for five years, by terrorists and criminals, day in, day out. Whatever is bothering Ash, is highly likely something harmless. Perhaps even puberty, but it's not-"

"How can you say that? We don't even know what happened to my son these past years! Yes, the things that we saw on TV, but he rarely talks about his journey. About his friends, yes, but never about the adventure itself. He _must_ have met other people, who he didn't become friends with and of course, things will have happened that he doesn't want to talk about… But it's become a habit to let him carry all that load by himself and that's exactly what became Red's doom, Samuel. I don't want that to happen to Ash."

"I would like to talk to him first, Delia, see if I can help him in any way. If not… I fear a therapist or worse will need to become involved, _if_ it's not something harmless as hormones," the professor answered. "For now, I want you to go to Ash and give him a big hug. Even if you can't talk to him, you can bring him comfort and that might ease him into opening up for you. What's not going to help, is sit here and give me sceptical looks and excuses."

"Ash is going to hate having a therapist."

"He will have to learn to live with that, if he needs one. Now, get going, Delia, you left a crying fourteen-year-old boy all alone at home. No matter how much independent he is, Ash needs you right now."

Chances were that the two of them would end up sobbing in each other's arms, judging by the look on Delia's face as she left, but it would be better than just Ash being on his own. Goodness, the man couldn't understand anything that had happened, from the boy's uncharacteristic behaviour to Delia's hesitance to go and hug her child. He would be checking up on them too, but due to him expecting an important e-mail from the Pokémon League, he couldn't leave straight away, no matter how badly he wanted to get to the bottom of this.

Professor Oak sighed deeply before deciding to throw away the cup of coffee Delia hadn't touched after that one sip. One look into his kitchen told him it was time to do the dishes, thanks to his assistants just putting their used cups on the sink and pray that one of the pokémon would suddenly become able to do it. As he got his soapy water ready and started putting the glasses in, the man wondered where Gary was, because he didn't want his grandson anywhere near Ash at the moment. Not because he didn't trust him, but there was no telling what could happen if Delia's son had gotten a sudden epiphany and got better at taking insults, but even better at insulting someone. Gary's pride wouldn't survive and frankly, neither would his patience, as his grandson would keep complaining about it. 'No' wasn't something Gary understood, so most disputes were settled with a 'maybe' and a small prayer that the teen would forget about it.

With the dishes done, the man settled back behind his computer and saw that the person he had expected the e-mail from, hadn't sent it yet. So he sighed once more, deactivated his device and decided to have a look around, possibly easing Gary into the idea of staying away from Ash for the time being, until whatever issues were plaguing either the teen or his mother were solved. He couldn't find his grandson anywhere, though and none of the assistants knew where Gary was either, until he found Tracey, feeding one of the baby pokémon.

"Tracey, do you know where Gary is?" the man asked, out of breath as he had been walking all over the pokémon Coral.

"Yeah, he told me he was taking a walk, to clear his mind. He had called that one lady to say her pokémon's illness couldn't be cured and I think her reaction left an impression on him."

"Oh."

This sounded normal enough, but there was something in the back of his head that made him feel as if something wasn't quite right.

"Is everything okay, professor?"

"I'm not sure, have you spoken to Ash recently?"

"I've been meaning to, but then the newest batch of eggs came in and somehow, the heat lamps triggered the entire set of twelve eggs to hatch and they imprinted on me. I've been kind of busy ever since." The boy chuckled.

The Meowth on his lap was vigorously sucking the bottle the teen had prepared for it, but all in all, looked like a good, healthy pokémon already.

"I understand. Good job, Tracey."

"Thank you, professor. Euhm… Is everything alright with Ash?"

"I'm not sure. I'll get back to you later, I need to speak with him first."

"Oh, alright."

"Well, I'll leave you to it, then."

"Ah, wait, professor," the teen said, just as the man had been meaning to leave. "If I could have a moment of your time, I would like to ask you for a few vacation days, if that's alright with you?"

"Of course, my boy."

"Cool, let me just…"

The Meowth gave a soft 'meow' at being moved back into the heated zone, but none of the pokémon seemed to be following Tracey out of the room, which often was the case when they had imprinted on a person.

"Thank Arceus they grow up so fast." The teen sighed, a blissful smile on his face as he closed the door. "I've had to sleep with twelve Meowth in my bed for three days."

"Risks of the business." The professor chuckled. "Come along now, let's see whether we can organize your future holiday, hm?"

"Oh, it's not going to be a holiday, actually and it's not any time soon either, it's just… There's this drawing competition upcoming and I really wanted to take some time off to focus on it."

"That's perfectly alright. Let me just get my-"

The phone rang and at the same time, someone started knocking at the door, causing professor Oak some distress, as he didn't know which one to answer first.

"I'll get the door, professor." Tracey offered.

"Thank you, my boy."

Moving into his office, the man sat as his desk and answered the call.

"Professor Oak speaking?"

"Hello, professor, this is the Celadon Central Hospital. I wanted to inform you that Gary Oak was admitted-

* * *

Professor Oak wasn't sure how he had gotten to the hospital or what had happened in the meantime. All he knew was he needed to see Gary as soon as possible.

"Mr. Oak?" a kind voice spoke up, though the man was left confused.

"O-oh, sorry, miss, I was… It's been a while since someone called me mister, I'm euhm…"

"It's alright, sir. Can I ask how you are related to the patient?"

"Oh, I'm his grandfather. I've been caring for him ever since his parents passed away."

"Ah, I see."

"What's wrong with him, miss?"

"He was brought in with severe shock, sir."

'Shock?' the professor thought, confused as there was little that could startle Gary so badly.

They had all been there when the Ariados nest had popped and dozens of small Spinarak had come crawling out. His grandson had been the only one not to scream like a banshee. And with all the assistants being pretty young and playful, you could always expect someone around the corner, waiting to scare the living daylights out of you -yes, professionalism was often forgotten about, much due to his lax guidelines and soft handling of assistants.

"You can see him now, sir, though I must tell you that there a police officer interested to take your grandson's statement. He seemed annoyed he needed to wait for your approval, so be aware he may come on strong. However, you are entitled to make him wait for an a certain period or even deny the request."

"I wouldn't want to be in the way of an official investigation, miss, and I'm thoroughly confused why the police would want Gary's statement for. What on earth happened for them to even be involved?"

"I wasn't told what caused the shock reaction, sir. Perhaps you could allow the police officer to take his statement under the condition that you need to be present, sir, that would give you all the information you need, next to still being near your grandson, in case he has a negative reaction to the questioning."

"Alright, I will." The man nodded, trusting the nurse to tell him what was best. "Is he stable?"

"He was never truly in any danger, sir, but he reacted positively to the medication plan set up to calm him down. You should have no issues reasoning with him."

"Thank you, miss."

"No problem, sir. I will take you to see him."

Professor Oak followed swiftly, desperately wanting to believe the nurse that his grandson was alright, but needed to see him with his own two eyes before his consciousness would be sated. Thankfully, Celadon Central Hospital had been designed to look as comfortable as possible and not like the one he had seen in Hearthome, which had been a complete maze. He sighed in relief when the door of the room opened and saw his grandson look at him, unharmed.

"Good heavens, Gary, you scared the living daylights out of me," he said, zooming over towards the bed.

"G… gramps?" the teen slurred. "What are you doing here?"

"They called me you were here, my boy. What happened?"

"T-there was a leg."

"… Come again?"

"A leg!" Gary cried out, clearly in distress… and while the cry had plenty of effect on the professor's mood, it also drew in the police officer.

"Is everything alright in here?"

"I'm his grandfather, sir!" professor Oak all but exclaimed. "I was trying to talk to my grandson, so no need to get so defensive."

"… Right back at you, sir, I was just trying to help," The young man said, holding his hands up. "The boy is correct, though, there was a severed leg found at the entrance of Viridian forest."

"Just that? A leg? Where was the rest of it?"

"I wasn't there on the scene itself, sir, so I couldn't possibly tell you. I was only sent here to find out what the one who found the leg had to say for himself."

"I-I recognise the socks," Gary whined. "I bought 'em, f-for Ash. For Christmas, last year."

A cold chill went through the professor's back and a heavy feeling settled in his stomach. He remembered his grandson having ordered them for Ash, through a company who specialised in printing the heads of your favourite pokémon on socks. The teen had sent a picture of Ash's Pikachu in the order, with a specific but funny expression on its face… So yes, they were special and one of a kind. The chance of Gary not recognising them correctly was non-existent but… If the boy's leg had been found at the entrance of Viridian forest, where was the rest?

'Oh, good lord, did I really send Delia back home, to see her son missing or severely wounded?' the professor though, panicking as he knew the woman wouldn't have reacted well to that.

But the man didn't even remember if he had left through the front door or that he had taken the garage in his panic, despite him not owning a car. Chances were that the person who had been knocking on the door _had_ been Delia, if she had found the house empty, but then, where the hell was Pikachu? And, oh _God_ , Tracey!

"You know the victim's identity?" the police officer asked, looking up from his notebook, startling the man from his panicked train of thoughts.

"Yes, Ash Ketchum," professor Oak answered in Gary's stead. "One of the certified trainers who live in Pallet Town as well… and a very close friend of ours."

"Oh, I've heard that name before. Alright, is there anything else you noticed?"

"T-the cut… It was straight," The teen in the bed answered. "No Pokémon there could've… would've done that. T-they… their arms or talons cut at an angle, o-or leave multiple wounds, at strange angles. B-besides, they know us. Ash and I, w-we've fooled around so much in that area, none of the pokémon would've…"

Professor Oak laid a hand on his grandson's shoulder, attempting to comfort him. It seemed to work but the teen looked so pitiful, he couldn't help the surge of sympathy for the young boy. It was just strange to hear that Ash, someone who they all knew to be able to deal with his troubles, had gotten into trouble anyway. The feeling of such worry for the rowdy teenager was alien to the man, but he knew that he needed to get to Delia. There was no telling what would happen if the poor woman was left on her own in this situation.

"That's very interesting." The police officer remarked. "So you're saying that a specific pokémon, not from this region, seemed to have attacked the boy?"

Garry nodded, though turned away from the well-meaning man who was only trying to do his job.

"I'm sorry if this upsets you, Mr. Oak, but this is vital information you have just given us. It will help us to determine whether or not this was an accident or that someone is out to hurt Ash."

"Impossible." The professor muttered. "Ash doesn't make enemies." He added, with a huff.

"T-Team Rocket followed him, though. All over, anywhere."

The man eyed his grandson wearily and wondered if Gary and Ash had been talking to each other way more than either he or Delia had suspected. Then again, the two _had_ mobile phones and had exchanged numbers ages ago, so who knew what Ash had told his grandson.

"Is that so?" the officer said, turning to professor Oak.

"I'm rarely aware of what the boy does with his time, sir. If he comes to me with any issue at all, it's mostly got to do with his pokémon." The man answered. "Because I _am_ a pokémon professor, after all." He added for good measure.

"I see. Anything else, Mr. Oak?"

Gary shook his head vehemently, probably wanting the policeman to go away.

"In that case, I would like to thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Oak. And of course, professor Oak."

The professor let out a sigh of relief when the man had left and his grandson visibly relaxed as well. He wondered why, but remembered that the teen had never been questioned by police before. Just as he wanted to ask Gary if he was okay, the sound of a helicopter coming closer drew his attention. The man went to look at the window, to see what was up, only to see that it was actually one belonging to the hospital and was possibly carrying an emergency patient aboard. Nevertheless, the sound was very annoying and it seemed to stress his grandson out.

"Do you think they found him?"

Gary looked so hopeful that the professor nodded, though shrugged at the same time because he didn't know, yet also didn't want to make his only remaining family member feeling even worse than he was already feeling.

"C-can you go check? Please?"

"Yes, alright," professor Oak sighed. "But know it might take a while before I can come back to you _if_ I do get to know something."

"That's fine, I-I need to know. _Please_ , gramps. I-if he's lost so much blood, he's going to need donors."

That… sounded strangely reasonable for someone in shock, but then again, his grandson had never been idiot -he just had acted idiotic from time to time.

"They have a blood bank here, though, but alright, I'll go and see if there's anything I can do to help."

"Thank you."

'Curse children and their ability to make their relief feel like you can move mountains.' The man thought, as he marched out of the room, determined to find out what on earth was going on.

If he was allowed to meddle at all, as this case was sounding a tad bit too serious for him to try and snoop around in. He was one of the boy's emergency contacts, but Delia as the boy's mother had top priority. _Heavens_ , it was around about time the entire Ketchum family got a break, though. First, Red's unfortunate career and Delia's teen pregnancy, then, when everyone was finally convinced they were okay, Ash started showing signs of having similar mental issues as his father -or so Delia claimed- and now _this_? He could only pray that Delia wasn't going to lose her son, doing so all the way to the ground floor.

It hadn't taken long before the professor got to know that Ash had indeed been found, but first, he had needed to struggle to get it through Tracey's father he had _not_ left his son in charge of the entire laboratory on a whim. The man really seemed to think he had intended to cause the sweet teen harm, but professor Oak was in no mood to put up with that.

"Mr. Sketchit, I left the laboratory because I was informed that my grandson had been admitted to hospital. That your son took initiative to help Mrs. Ketchum is _not_ my responsibility but speaks for his character, nonetheless. And yes, despite everything, if Tracey had remembered to go to the senior assistant who was still present in the laboratory, he would not have been the one to accompany Mrs. Ketchum to the pokémon centre."

"It would have _killed_ the pokémon!"

"And you getting heated about this is helping your son in any way? Because if so, please tell me, sir, I have a highly upset family member as well, who found his friend's cut off leg!"

"Break it up."

The two were startled to see the Chief Superior of the G-Men stand in front of them, eyes full of fury.

"How _dare_ the two of you argue over who's got it the worst, right in front of a group of people who all have to carry their own issues. Or did you all forget you are arguing in the lobby of a hospital?"

"I-"

" _Sit_ down and shut up," Lance commanded and Mr. Sketchit went down like a brick, buttocks probably bruised due to the hard landing on the chair. "I came here to donate blood to a kid who desperately needs it, not to teach two adults how to be decent human beings."

"Does he need a lot?" professor Oak asked, not about letting himself get chided because _someone_ decided to try and get him into trouble. "I know I have a compatible blood type he could-."

"I'm not a nurse, go find one." The man snapped and walked off.

'… Somebody's in a sour mood.' He thought, but felt a bit _too_ hyperactive to be considered normal as well.

Perhaps it was the adrenaline, as he too had gotten a good shock due to hearing about Gary and his hospitalisation. Hearing that Ash, the practically invincible kid who had never gotten into harmful trouble, suddenly had gotten _terribly_ hurt, certainly hadn't helped. And Tracey's father screaming nonsense into his face had just been the cherry on the cake but right now, he only had one target in mind and that was to go and see if he could help the hurt teen.

The nurse he had spoken to seemed enthusiastic -or was it relief?- that another person was offering to help, but she didn't say much about Ash's condition, other than confirming that it was indeed him who had been admitted to this hospital. He wasn't anywhere near the teen or Lance when he donated his blood either, but the professor figured it was for the best. The Champion didn't seem happy to be here at all and there was nothing else the man could help Ash with, to make sure he would at least survive today. For as little the soft-spoken nurse told him, professor Oak's gut told him that the boy was in grave danger. He wasn't looking forward going to tell Gary that either, while the teen had already needed to deal with his parents suddenly disappearing on him…

'What a rotten situation.' The man thought and walked off, back to his grandson's room.

* * *

The worried mother sat in a chair in a waiting room, not far from the space where she knew her son was in. She would have loved to have seen him, to have been able to just… Delia shook her head, she had seen the state of her house, there was no way Ash would be awake now. She knew better than anyone what had possibly happened to her sweet baby and all she could do now was pray that the doctors could help him and that no one would come out of that room, shoulders low and head down, stating they had something to tell her. She wouldn't live it down, she was probably in shock as well, but no medicine or treatment would help her now. No, Delia needed to know where her son was going to live or not.

"Mrs. Ketchum?"

She slowly turned, scared to see a doctor there, who had come in to tell her they couldn't save him, that he was-

"Mrs. Ketchum! Please, it's just me, I'm not a doctor."

The woman blinked several times, seeing the man's face so close to her own. She felt his hands on her shoulder, but honestly, grabbing someone there was a very odd way to calm them down. Granted, Lance was possibly used to dealing with dragons, but heaven help her if these people here couldn't save her son, they would _definitely_ be needing his experience in dealing with those kinds of pokémon!

"Mrs. Ketchum, please calm down, I just want to talk to you."

"Take my statement, you mean." She huffed.

"… Yes, though if I find it upsets you, I can delay this… Though know it is important that we know your side of the story too."

"Why, so it can make the news in time?"

"No, Mrs. Ketchum, I promise you there is no breach of confidence in the G-Men. Everything you tell us will be kept safe in our files behind the tightest security over all the regions." Lance calmly explained. "We are trying to understand as to what and why this happened, so we can learn to avoid it in the future."

She let out a little laugh, though wasn't amused as she shook her head.

"Something evil entered my house this afternoon, sir. Something that cut down everything it got into its path-"

Everything had been ruined, her couch, her single soft, the TV, everything… Pikachu laying in a puddle of blood by the side, poor Mimie trying to hold pressure on the wounds on his own body.

"We know. You left the door open, a neighbour went in to check everything was in order and called for help when they found that wasn't the case. The… damage is on its way on being repaired, a TV was given to you by a local company, your carpet is being cleaned as we speak and new furniture similar to your original, damaged ones have been ordered."

A small sob escaped her, causing the man to lay a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm truly very sorry, Mrs. Ketchum."

"I never intended this to happen." She whispered. "I just didn't know what else to do, seeing the house in such a state, my son nowhere to be found, his and my pokémon so injured, I-I ran to the laboratory with the two of them. I… I thought perhaps professor Oak could help, but Tracey helped me instead."

"I know, his father made that a well-known fact all over the lobby."

"Oh, bless the poor child, I never meant to pull him into this trouble."

"Tracey is okay, Mrs. Ketchum, don't worry about him."

She nodded but by doing so, got a good look of all the blood still on her clothes. A shiver went through her, though Lance, ever the gentleman -even if he was a little rough around the edges- took off his cape and laid it over her. Delia was much smaller and shorter than him, so it covered her from the neck down. The cape still had a remnant of the man's body heat in it and that alone brought her a lot of comfort.

"Thank you, sir."

"Your well-being is one of my main concerns, Mrs. Ketchum." He said, because next to being a gentleman, he was also rather correct and strict.

No one has ever caught the man fraternizing with any of the elite trainers either, safe from official meetings, so it was often said he was terribly asocial and avoided large amounts of people like the plague. Unless it was while he was in function, of course.

"Is it?"

"Yes. This also takes me to the question as to why you weren't…"

"Sliced into pieces?" she asked dryly.

"I was honestly going to say there to get hurt, but whatever works for you."

"Because I wasn't there. I… left him alone."

"Fall out?"

"I dropped something, yes, but no words. Nevertheless, Ash was highly upset. I thought it was best for the both of us to leave him on his own for a bit, so he could get a grip on himself but… the idea didn't age well. Even professor Oak told me to go back home, but then, when I did…"

"You saw he wasn't there, just the carnage left in the wake of the accident." Lance finished in her stead.

Delia nodded and sighed deeply.

"Next thing I know, I'm being ushered into an ambulance and meeting someone of the G-Men, who hands me over to a nurse and now I'm still in this seat."

"I see."

"Is there anything you know, sir? About Ash?"

"I should have expected that question," the man sighed. "All I can tell you is that I saw Arcanine in the area with blood on their fur. Which is a good thing, because these Arcanine are trained to lay down next to the victim, to keep their body heat up. And those pokémon wouldn't have laid down next to someone who passed away."

"And the people who found him? Are they okay?"

"It were the Arcanine who found Ash first, but it was the medical team who provided first care and technically the first to have seen him. They're sent home and will receive therapy, as per usual."

"Usual…" Delia repeated. "Does this type of accidents happen often?"

"Not too often, thankfully. Enough to keep us on our toes, I would say."

"And the survival rate…?"

"I couldn't possibly tell you, the severity in injuries of cases like this varies too much for me to give you a good answer," Lance answered.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Allow me to put some pressure on some people in here, because I find it to be beastly that they are leaving you in the dark like this."

"Yes, thank you… I… I know I'll have to go home sometime today, but I don't know when or where to go."

"Ah, yes, thank you for reminding me, I nearly forgot to mention a room was reserved for you, in the hotel across the street." The man said, putting his hand into one of the pockets of his coat and pulling out a set of keys. "You can stay there until your house's repairs are completed. It should be finished near the end of this week, but we figured you would enjoy not sleeping there tonight."

"O-oh, sir, thank you. That's very generous, _thank_ you." She gushed, unable to fully express her gratitude as she accepted the key. "I hadn't thought about that."

"As I said, your well-being is important to us as well. Without you, Ash's chances of survival would be even less."

"Yes," Delia answered, all the motherly feelings she felt she had lacked this past week surging up into her once more.

Lance merely nodded once more and left, probably knowing better than to wish her a good day because it really wasn't. But things always needed to get worse before they could get better, right? Her dad seemed to have much faith in it and he was still alive, so it must work, right? Too bad her relationship with them had gone awry when she had gotten pregnant because she could have done with the support…

"Mrs. Ketchum?"

Before she could even help herself, fear gripped her, because this time, it _was_ a nurse. Or was it a doctor? Who could even recognise the one from the other with those blue scrubs?!

"Y-yes?"

"The doctor can see you now."

'Oh no.' she thought, following the woman as if on auto-pilot.

She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to hear it, didn't even want to be near the man who looked at her with these tired eyes, having seen too many people like her-

"Hello, Mrs. Ketchum, I'm dr. Martin, the doctor in charge of overseeing your son." He said, a clear introduction but Delia couldn't help looking at him as if he had grown a second head. "I… apologise for the lack of information, it was not our intention to cause you such stress. There was just a lot going on and I…"

The doctor paused, looking at her for a reaction but the woman wasn't having any of it. She wouldn't say a damn thing until she heard what she had been waiting for these past three hours.

"I can tell you your son's surgery was successful, Mrs. Ketchum."

Delia felt herself getting caught by someone, but didn't realise what it was until she felt herself getting put on a chair. She was just in time to see that it was the nurse from earlier who had caught her as she seemed to have fainted.

"T-thank you." She said, as the woman retreated.

"No problem, Mrs." The nurse answered.

"I'm _truly_ sorry for having kept you in the dark, this could have been avoided, if it wasn't for certain things to… not make sense."

"Please, sir, no excuses."

"… Yes. Well, as it is still unknown as to what exactly happened to your son, we can only give you the download of the injuries we have spotted so far, some… more obvious than others." The man started and pulled out a file. "Our biggest concerns were the deep lacerations found on his face, torso and arms. They caused us to need to wait for surgery until we found blood donors, though thankfully, two gentlemen stepped up to the plate only minutes after our request. They have now been stitched up and after some rest, should close up… though scar tissue will be unavoidable."

Her son probably wouldn't mind, or at least, the one who had left for Unova wouldn't have. Delia had no idea how her son would react to having this huge scar run over his face until he woke up and told her how he felt about it. Which was unfortunate because she could count the number of times Ash had talked about his feelings on the fingers of her hand and still have a few left to spare.

"I hope you are aware of your son's biggest issue?" the doctor asked carefully.

"I… No. I just know there was a lot of blood."

"Ah, well, yes, euhm… It seems that the other lacerations were just… harmless or rather accidental, because we have noticed that all cuts are from the same 'blade', yet weren't successful in slicing through him. The cut aimed his torso, for example, seemed to have rebounded from the thorax, which is strange, as the ribs are equally as strong as the tibia and fibula," He explained but seemed embarrassed when he caught the woman's blank look. "I mean, the bones of the ribcage is as strong as the lower bones in the leg, Mrs. Ketchum."

"Which means that whatever tried to slice him successfully did so in his legs." She concluded.

"Only one, thankfully."

" _Thankfully_ ," She repeated. " _Thankfully_!? What am I supposed to be thankful for? That I only last a small part of my son compared to him as a whole?"

"Yes, exactly." The doctor answered, causing Delia to deflated.

"I'm sorry." She sighed. "I'm not feeling quite myself today."

"I understand, Mrs. Ketchum, I really do. Which is why I'm not at all happy to tell you that, next to the unfortunate loss of his leg, there are still other issues, possibly ones we can't identify until he wakes."

"… Permanent ones?"

"I cannot say for sure. I mean, forgive me if it seems insensitive but it really seems like your son was involved in a very aggressive game of Tug of War. Both his shoulders were dislocated and the swelling in his neck and face alert that he was shaken about forcefully."

"O-oh… Do… Do you think someone tried to save him from whatever kidnapped him?"

"Kidnapped, was it?" the man replied tiredly. "Good heavens, I never really thought… Well, it would make sense, he wasn't wearing any shoes, but to go as far as to say he was saved, Mrs. Ketchum… I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was the case, but whoever attempted it, did it with little regard to the boy's health or safety."

"Ah."

'A Pokémon then,' she decided, knowing her son already _was_ a pokémon master when it came to dealing with them.

From a young age, Ash had done miracles with the creatures, rivalling Red's own, calming ability, despite the boy not being anywhere near calm. Much to professor Oak's annoyance, because that meant there was always some kind of big and usually angry pokémon near the kid. Yes, she was convinced that Ash had been pulled out of the grip of this… creepy _monster_ that had tried to cut him up and to do heaven knows what with the remains.

"Ah, did they ever… find the leg?" she asked.

"Oh, yes, I heard that it was found prior to..., let's see… Yes, indeed, approximately a good two hours and a half before your son was brought in. By an Oak, nonetheless."

" _Gary_?" she uttered in disbelief.

An easy guess, as Samuel had been right there with her and there was only one other Oak left in Kanto.

"A friend?"

"O-oh…" Delia sighed putting her hands on her face in defeat. "Yes, poor Gary. Oh, all of Ash's Pallet Town friends admitted in this hospital, all at once. Good thing Green wasn't around, the girl would've probably seen it happen, with how she snoops around. Oh, heavens."

"He is merely suffering from shock, Mrs... even if it's rather severe to the point where he will have to stay the night. But still..."

"That's what they said about Tracey too and I've never seen the poor boy so shaken."

"Ah, is Tracey Sketchit a friend of Ash and Gary? Would it possibly help if we moved the two in together in one room?"

"I couldn't possibly tell you, you would have to ask Gary's grandfather if that's a good idea. I only know the two work together in the laboratory. Also, are you their doctor as well?"

"No, but I work together with the one who is. Partially a therapist, who will possibly also help your son, when he wakes."

"Not _if_ he wakes?"

"Try to be positive about it, Mrs. Ketchum, we're doing the best we can."

She tried. She really did, but how could someone just forget about a stressful situation? Her body was still buzzing with adrenaline and heaven knows what else but Delia refused to leave the hospital until she got a look at her son. When she had, though, the woman nearly wished she hadn't, as he looked terrible. Ash never laid down so nicely, he sprawled, usually with one of more pokémon on top or around him. For him to be laying here, in this bed, as still as this and without any kind of life around him… it was almost blasphemy, really.

Delia could hardly believe it was Ash, but she knew it had to be. When she saw the blue sock with Pikachu's face on it peek from under the blanket, she got the only confirmation she needed, remembering the sheer glee on her son's face upon receiving the gift. It was hard to just stand here next to him with that happy memory in her head. His poor, little face was all bandaged up, the spot where this monster had cut him visible as some blood had seeped through the gauze. It ran _scarily_ close to his eyes, just underneath them and now she realised why the doctor had been so confused. Cartilage and just one bone compared to a leg? It was nothing short of a miracle the thing hadn't cut off his whole face, but perhaps this was the result of all her prayers.

As bad as her son looked, he was alive, though, even if the beep from the machine was the only confirmation that he was. It was frightening to see how small he was, despite being so independent and having travelled so far from home. He had been intubated and heavens, the ventilator head was _huge_ compared to his face. Whatever else wasn't mechanical or wrapped in gauze was coloured an unpleasant mixture between purple and red, possibly the swelling the doctor had been talking about. Her heart sank when she saw the space his other leg should have occupied, though it seemed like it was straight underneath his knee, a small upside in a world full of steep descends. They could make prosthetic limbs alright but a knee? Unlikely and as such, a small flicker of hope for her son's mobility ignited inside of her, until…

"Oh, doctor, I'm been meaning to tell you, I euhm… found my son to behave rather bizarrely before the accident."

"In what way, Mrs. Ketchum?"

"Clumsy, in a way he seemed to stumble all over. Fell over in the bath once too. He was never that way, not before he returned from Unova."

"On different kinds of flooring?"

"Everywhere, doctor, soil, floorboards, tiles, carpet. And that's from what I saw. Also, highly emotional."

"Hmm, that _is_ worrisome. Did he have someone to talk to?"

"I believe he tried to talk to professor Oak, but I fear that he's only told his pokémon about it."

"Ah, yes, translating that would be quite the challenge, I'm sure. Nevertheless, perhaps you could check his computer? I've often heard from parents with teenagers around Ash's ages that they often seek help somewhere you wouldn't expect it. There's a chance he might have realised something there was something, which might explain the overly emotional reactions you just reported. I don't have the right means to explain the clumsiness, other that perhaps dizzy spells. And those could have a large variety of reasons to appear."

"Ah, alright. I don't have access to his computer right now, I'll euhm… be staying close by."

"That's quite alright, Mrs. Ketchum, there is no reason to hurry. Even if he wakes and heals very quickly, I don't see him walk around without support this year."

Delia nodded, a bit taken aback by the statement that seemed practical enough, but it still caused a lump in her throat. She could only hope that with some luck, her little boy would still have the gusto to continue, and while she was convinced the pokémon League was going to support him, there was only so much you could do for someone who wasn't the slightest bit motivated.

"Thank you for everything, doctor. Can I come back tomorrow?"

"Of course, Mrs. Ketchum. Visiting hours start at one in the afternoon and end at eight in the evening."

"Oh, dear, I'll try and remember that. What will I even be doing with myself?" she asked, foreseeing a whole lot of free time to worry about everything.

"Would you perhaps like to talk to my colleague, Mrs. Ketchum? I feel like it would do you some good, to talk to someone who won't judge you."

"… If he has some time for me, I would like that, yes."

"Good, allow me a moment to call and see if he's free." The doctor said. "Please follow me."

She did and funnily enough, they met the man outside in the hallway. He seemed to have figured out Gary and Tracey's connection to each other, as both teens had kept referring to Ash, the one worried because he had no information, the other because he _knew_ his friend was hurt and wanted to know if he was okay. Dr. Martin settled to go and talk to the two boys and the other doctor took Delia to his office, to talk over what had happened today. She might have refused any help earlier, but the still worried mother found solace in the soft-spoken man, who seemed to have an explanation for everything.

He told her flat out she shouldn't compare her son with anyone, not even his past self. People change, he said and she couldn't agree more yet felt ashamed someone had needed to tell her that. The chances of Ash instantly being okay were small enough to add the expectation of him coming out unchanged out of this event to it, which would make it unrealistic. Hearing the man talk had helped calm her down, even if she wouldn't remember everything he had just told her. Still, Delia felt a lot better as she roamed through the hallway, on her way out of this hospital.

"Delia! Oh, my dear girl, are you alright?"

She would recognise the professor's voice from anywhere now, so the woman wasn't startled when he spoke up out of nowhere.

"… Is that… Lance's cape?" he added, looking at her in confusion.

"Oh… Yes, it is. He gave it to me earlier, I forgot."

"I suppose it's alright, he would have asked for it if he really wanted it back."

"I'll have it washed and returned to him, when all this is over," Delia said.

"Never mind all that, how are you doing, my girl?"

"Much better. I just had a talk with Ash's future therapist. I… It'll be hard, but no one said life was going to be easy anyway."

"No, and Ash is rather known to never do things halfway. Honestly, I've never seen such a large amount of people at large in my life. It's almost unbelievable this was just today, I feel as if I've been staying in Gary's room for at least a week now." The professor sighed. "I feel better now that he's not on his own in that room, even if Tracey's fallen silent."

"The poor dear."

"Yes quite. Now of only his father would be as silent."

"Lance told me about it. It's not very classy, to cause trouble in a hospital lobby."

"You seem to have a better connection with the man than anyone else, Delia. I suppose it's your natural charm at work."

"I doubt that," she answered. "I wasn't charming at all, in fact, I will have lost weight over this and lose a whole lot more in the future, but I can have faith in the fact that Lance seemed to care about Ash. Genuinely, I mean, not the 'I hope he's okay for your sake' but he went through the trouble of cheering me up, to make sure my son would have me at my best when he… you know."

"How is he, then?"

"A wreck. Whatever did that to him really pulled him apart from the seams. I'll settle for it, though, he's all I've got left."

"Of course, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, my dear, but I felt the same way when I heard Gary was here. I mean, they didn't tell me what he was hospitalised for, I don't even remember leaving!"

"It's alright, Samuel, we're okay." She said, feeling better now she could smile without feeling guilty about it. "We're just going to have to keep going."

"God, you're such a strong person, Delia," professor Oak uttered, thoroughly impressed by her.

"Am I? I could definitely use a nice, strong cup of coffee and a hug."

"Come, my dear, let's get that settled, then."

The woman didn't expect all her issues to magically disappear, like all those princesses in fairy tales had when they were in the arms of their prince. Mostly because she wasn't a princess and the professor certainly wasn't a prince, but it felt nice and warm. A certain coldness had settled ever since she had heard about Ash's accident and she knew it didn't bode much good, but ah, perhaps hugs and warm coffees would help. She, after all, was better off than her poor son.


	2. And Out Came The Grief And Woe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they are all Upset® about something. A tribute to all who felt I was skimming over details -I probably still am, though.

Delia didn't feel at all well as she sat down in the hotel's restaurant. It was still early in the morning, but she hadn't managed to sleep and needed to get out of the room a.s.a.p, the walls seemingly coming at her the longer she stayed there. The unfamiliar scents inside the hotel were causing her even more stress as she was only made aware she wasn't home. Her sleepy yet distressed mind had known and caused her even more discomfort, by not allowing her to sleep. Perhaps it was her consciousness keeping her awake, as the woman couldn't help but feel as if she could have done something to avoid all this happening. The therapist was right, of course, even if she had known about it, there wasn't much she could have done, except for having gotten injured, mortally so -if Pikachu and Mimie's conditions were anything to go by- but her mind wasn't so easily convinced.

"Would you like some coffee, Ma'am?"

The woman stared at the waiter with a confused look, blinking as she belatedly realised he was offering her something.

"O-oh, I'm sorry, sir," she apologised. "I would like some coffee, yes, thank you."

"Milk? Sugar?"

"Milk, please."

The man nodded and put a small jar of milk on the table, before pouring her a cup of coffee.

"Are you okay, Ma'am?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, I… I'm not feeling like myself today."

"That's quite alright, Ma'am, seems like a common occurrence today."

"… How so?" she asked, confused as to why he said that.

"Nothing you need to worry about, Ma'am."

"Please tell me? I… I could use the diversion."

The waiter gave her a look-over, as if trying to decide whether he should tell her or not. He must have decided she looked miserable or desperate enough, as he sighed.

"Just a strange vibe going on in here, Ma'am. I thought it was my imagination until you noticed it too."

"That's because... Well, my son was admitted to Celadon Central," Delia answered.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ma'am," the man quickly said, as earnest as he possibly could muster. "I hope he's alright."

"I don't know, sir, Ash was still in Intensive Care when I left yesterday."

"Ash? Ash Ketchum? I know about him, alright."

Delia grew suspicious upon hearing that and gave the man a sharp look, her motherly instinct jumping in, ready for action.

"Yes?"

"I've always liked him, gave me the strength and determination I needed to move regions. If a little kid could travel so freely to chase his dreams, so could I. And well, here I am."

"Oh," she said, as this was the first time anyone admitted to Ash being an inspiration to them in front of her.

"Didn't know something had happened to him, though, I'm getting the chills standing here."

"I've not seen whether it's come up in the news."

"The TV broadcasting the news in here broke down yesterday, so I don't know either. There was no news on when I left for work either, so… Either way, Ma'am, if there's anything we can do for you, let us know. We'll see you right."

'I'm sure you will,' she thought dryly yet knew she needed to appreciate the kindness.

Even though she knew that, no matter how much good intentions or deeds were offered, none of them would help Ash out of the dire situation he was in. And the idea that she might soon be alone in her home, as alone as she already felt, left her listless. Why she suddenly had a plate with food in front of her was beyond her, but figured someone of the hotel's staff might have done this. It was all a testament to how bad she must look… or that the waiter was a tattle-tale. A rueful look at her phone told her she still had over seven hours until she could visit her little boy again and Delia didn't know what to do with herself. But, seeing she had her cellphone in her hand, the woman figured she could just as well give professor Oak a call.

"Delia!" he exclaimed, having picked up straight away, as if having expected her to contact him "How are you doing, my girl? Are they treating you alright there in Celadon?"

"I feel like death," she whispered, her emotions getting the better of her. "They're so kind to me here too and I can't even bring a smile to my face. Samuel, what do I do?"

"I know it's hard, I really do. Look, why don't you go and see if you can't get something to put in Ash's room? I'll send you some money, see it as a gift."

"I'm not sure whether I can take anything and leave it there. If so, putting Pikachu with him would be the next best thing."

"Delia, if he's that sedated not to feel pain, he won't know Pikachu's there either. Besides, he's in Intensive Care, they don't want a pokémon there to suck up the attention Ash needs."

"Oh."

"Follow your gut feeling, my girl. Just not straight into the hospital, they won't let you in right now."

"No, I know that. God, Samuel, what a mess."

"I know, my dear, I know. If there's anything I can do for you, let me know, okay?"

"Sure," she answered, but again, there was little she could do with the professor's good intentions either… unless. "I think I have something you could do for me."

"Oh?"

"You still have the keys to my house, right?"

"… Yes?"

"I would like you to check Ash's computer, Samuel."

"Really? Whatever for? And what do I do if he has a password?"

"My son doesn't do passwords," she answered quickly. "You remember that I told you I thought that something was going on with him?"

"Yes?"

"I think Ash realised he wasn't alright as well. Dr. Knight told me to go look somewhere I wouldn't expect it and if there's one thing I wouldn't think he would do, it would asking total strangers."

"Alright, alright, Delia, I'll humour you. Who is this dr. Knight, though? I thought dr. Martin was Ash's doctor?"

"The therapist, Samuel. Dr. Martin is the paediatrician and specialised in traumatology. There's another one too, an anaesthetist, I believe, but I don't remember his name."

"Three," the man stated, sounding a bit sad. "Heavens, Delia…"

"The more help he gets, the better I'll feel, Samuel. Just thinking he'll be there, all on his own… I don't even want to think about it."

"It's Intensive Care, my dear, there's bound to be someone around, at all times."

"Yes… I'm sorry, Samuel, I can't think straight, I always end up seeing Ash in that bed, looking so lifeless and… I'm at a loss."

"You're not alone in this, Delia, know that."

She was, though. Even if this kind waiter admired her little boy, he didn't care as much as she did. Yes, she might not have always shown it, but she had tried to be a good mother, allowing him the freedom she never had, to go and discover the world, giving him the knowledge he always had a home to come back to. But perhaps it hadn't been enough, perhaps she had underestimated Ash's need to have a more practical kind of love. He had never pushed her to do anything she hadn't wanted to either and in a way, Delia feared her son had grown up to be a young adult while she wasn't looking, having left him to be taught the necessities of life by strangers.

Who was she to tell professor Oak she hadn't expected Ash to talk to people he didn't know about his issues? He had _always_ done so, he must have! Just because he didn't talk to her, didn't mean he didn't trust a stranger to be more helpful… than his mother?

'God, what have I done?' she lamented.

"Delia? Are you still there?" professor Oak asked.

"Yes. I'm still here."

"I'll go to your house now, my dear and I'll call you as soon as I learn something new."

"Thank you, Samuel. I think you might be best off checking the search results of his browser."

"I'll keep that in mind. Don't forget to eat and go outside for a bit, though. Promise me that?"

"Of course, I will go and get something for Ash. He's… always been a bit more materialistic when it came to presents than I ever was."

"Indeed so, my dear. Mind as you go now."

"I will. Thank you again, Samuel."

"No problem, Delia. I'll talk to you soon."

"Yes, bye."

The woman lowered the phone to her lap, instant regret filling her. Did she really want to know what other injuries would be haunting her little boy? Even if it was hormones, even if it was a funk, he hadn't been out of it when that monster took him. He would _still_ be feeling bad when he woke up! New injuries didn't cancel old ones, after all, and now Delia was dreading the professor's next call. A beep startled her out of her thoughts and bewildered, she stared at the screen… and promptly wondered what the heck Samuel thought she was planning to buy. Ignoring the strange amount of money the man had sent her, she did her best to finish at least one sandwich, before leaving the hotel, onto the streets to go and find her son a gift.

* * *

The dreaded call never came, but professor Oak had sent her a message that he had encountered some trouble and would meet her in the hospital a few minutes before one o'clock in the afternoon. This was more than alright to Delia, who had very little of her fingernails left, having bitten them off due to stress. She really didn't want Samuel to have discovered something awful, because that meant Ash had gotten into an accident in Unova and had told no one about it. Part of her figured it was unlikely he would have had an accident, as it would have appeared in the news, as foreign trainers were one of the pokémon league's top priorities. But on the other side, she was quick to remind herself that her son was good at keeping secrets.

'Oh, I hope he didn't start hiding things from me because he thought I wouldn't care if he told me. My poor darling…' she thought, silently lamenting in her seat.

With the professor not having specified how long before one o'clock he wanted to meet up, she had come far too earlier. Delia was already stressed out and she didn't want to miss the man's arrival, hence why she had come in at a quarter past twelve. Only to see him powerwalk into the lobby at barely a minute before one.

"When you said a little before one, I didn't think you were talking seconds, Samuel."

"It's _madness_ outside, Delia. I thought that taking the car was a good idea, seeing Gary's being released today and all that, but heck, this is the last time I'm driving to Celadon city."

"I didn't notice anything, but then again, I just need to cross the street to get here."

"Count your blessings, my girl," the professor sighed. "Anyhow, I've done as asked, but the internet connection in Pallet seems to be down, so I couldn't see what he was actively looking at, just his searches."

"And?"

"It doesn't bode well, Delia, he was looking at illnesses first, ones that caused dizziness and forgetfulness. The search engine must've shown him that it wasn't an illness, because his search stopped at asphyxiation."

"O-oh… Oh, no, surely that couldn't have happened to him?" the woman asked, eyes full of disbelief.

"I would have to ask professor Juniper, Delia, see if she knows anything."

"Yes, please, I would appreciate that, if you could. It… It's already bad enough Ash had to live with the knowledge his worries had a cause. Oh, heavens, I hope those search results gave the wrong conclusion."

"You can't assume he was spooked, though, if he knew something was wrong, Ash must have been fully expecting something bad. I'm convinced he clicked on the link to asphyxiation, knowing fully well what happened, though only linking it to the symptoms once reading what could cause them."

"Oh, heavens," she lamented. "Dr. Martin will have noticed something, he said he would be taking a test, it was an… euhm…"

"X-ray?" professor Oak suggested.

"No, he said that, with Ash still having those deep cuts, he didn't want to risk exposing him to the radioactivity. I think it was an MRI-scan."

"Ah, right. In that case, the doctor will have noticed whether Ash has brain damage or not."

Just hearing the profession mention that her son could be suffering from something so horrible, left her reeling and she didn't know she had started crying until the man offered her a handkerchief.

"Would you like to me to ask if I can join you, Delia? I'm sure Gary can wait a little longer."

"Yes, please," Delia answered softly.

"Do you have an appointment or should we just let the kind nurse over there know we're here?"

"Yes, euhm, she needs to call dr. Martin, I think."

"Good, let me go and announce we've arrived, then," professor Oak said and left the miserable-looking woman alone for a bit.

Or at least, Delia assumed she was looking that way, seeing a nurse eye her with a concerned mother kind of look. It has been a while since she had last gotten one aimed at her, but she couldn't find the strength to even nod to the kind woman. At least the professor returned rather quickly.

"He's waiting for us, my girl, come. Hold my arm."

She did hold onto him, possibly more forceful than he had expected, if his small flinch was anything to go by. But Delia needed the support and was cursing Giovanni and those old idiots from the pokémon league as all the things they had done to Red had stopped him for having been here for her and Ash. She shouldn't have needed to bother this poor, old man with this, her husband should have needed to be in his place!

"Easy now, Delia. I can't hold your whole weight, even though I wouldn't want anything more than to pick you up and carry you to the doctor's office."

Again, good intentions which meant nothing to her. All it did was flatter her ever so slightly, but that was about it.

"I'm sorry," she said simply.

"I know, my dear, I know."

* * *

The doctor didn't know what to think when he saw the highly upset woman come inside his office, guided in by the man he recognised as one of the people who had donated some blood for his newest patient. The expression on his face meant trouble as well, though and now the poor doctor knew he was on thin ice.

"Are you okay, Mrs. Ketchum?"

She shook her head vehemently and the man looked up, answering in her stead.

"We've gathered some information, doctor, Ash seemed to have been aware of some issues he was experiencing."

"Issues?" dr. Martin repeated blankly, before remembering that Mrs. Ketchum had indeed told him her son had been acted oddly for a while. "Oh, yes, the clumsiness and the emotional outbursts, I remember now."

"He went online to look for answers."

"Oh," the doctor winced. "That's never a good idea."

"We believe he thought he had brain damage from asphyxiation." The man continued, unbothered and determined to make his point.

The poor woman buried her head in her hands and dr. Martin understood. His face must've shown something she had been dreading, causing him to stifle a sigh as he only had bad news for her today. Though the doctor made a mental note to not underestimate the boy, few patients were able to diagnose themselves correctly, even with the help of the internet.

"I'm afraid he's correct," he said, steeling himself for the reaction he would be getting. "Whether it is from asphyxiation or not, I couldn't possibly say, but there is brain damage that could correlate with him possibly having suffered from a lack of oxygen for a certain period."

"Is it bad, doctor?" Mrs. Ketchum asked, having grabbed the table upon getting the confirmation that her son was a whole lot smarter than they had given him credit for.

"I will show you the results I've based diagnosis on, Mrs., the MRI-scan was conclusive enough for me to use it as a reference to show you as to why I think Ash was right in assuming he had brain damage," he said and took the boy's file from a neat pile to his right. "This is one of the images where the damage is visible. Now, it _is_ very small, but you can see it right here, at the bottom in the middle."

The woman let out a pitiful noise at getting the picture in front of her and dr. Martin became suspicious when he saw the man accompanying her reacted just as startled as his colleagues had upon getting face with the image of the boy's brain activity. He wondered about it for a while, before realising that this wasn't just anyone, this was a pokémon professor. And really, brains were brains, pokémon or human, so of course, this person would know what to look for.

"I-it's not even the size of a pea…" Mrs. Ketchum uttered.

"Indeed, but it's very significant, nonetheless. Let's not forget the brain is three-dimensional and we have visual that this entire part of his brain is not responding to any kind of stimuli."

"O-oh… What does it mean?"

"That you were not imagining he was swaying or that he was unstable while walking, Mrs. Ketchum," the doctor said and took a deep breath. "We… have discussed it, my colleagues and I, I mean and we have concluded that we won't offer your son a chance for a prosthetic limb."

" _What_!?" the man growled, giving him a furious look.

"I'm sorry, sir, but it is for the sake of the boy's health. It would be unfair for us to give him hope of walking again, when he couldn't have kept his footing even if he still had two legs. The effect of him falling constantly will eventually make him frustrated, not to mention he could get gravely injured. If it happens when the boy ascending stairs, or in the middle of a busy street, the effects could be disastrous."

"And what about _this_?!" the professor exclaimed, jabbing his finger at the picture, landing perfectly on the spot that had made every single doctor in the room present at the time of the meeting cringe.

"This… is the damage caused by the accident that brought him here, sir. What you see here is the brain stem and… and it shouldn't be squeezed together like this," the doctor answered as calmly as he could muster. "Due to the swelling, this area had started receiving tension which… could be life-threatening. For now, I have one of my assistants and a nurse on stand-bye in his room, to monitor his condition."

"What are the consequences of it?"

"It varies, sir, I cannot say for sure."

"What _could_ be the consequences, then?"

"Symptoms of lasting brain stem injury vary, sir, they could cause breathing and swallowing difficulties as well as verbal impairment… but if the injury is severe, there's a chance he could suffer from personality changes to memory loss. And there is also the possibility that, if the damage caused by the swelling is too great, the boy will never wake up from his coma."

The sound that came from the woman would haunt him for the rest of his life. She seemed to crumble to pieces right in front of him and there was _nothing_ he could do to help her. Her son was gravely injured and he had no right to lie to her. She needed to know what to expect if the boy woke up.

"Is there really nothing you can do, doctor?"

"My second opinion is coming in tomorrow, to look at Ash's case, sir," he said. "But the brain stem is in such a position inside the brain, it's impossible to treat when injured. Chances of us causing more damage while doing so are incredibly high, so high that no one is willing to risk it. All in all, we need to consider the child's quality of life-"

" _What_ quality? Of being in that bed for the rest of his life? Or being stuck in a wheelchair?"

"I know it's hard, sir, but I'm morally forced to be honest with you. And the child's injuries are no fault of mine."

The man sagged in the seat, all his apparent anger seeping out of him, possibly filling him with regrets and guilt. Dr. Martin had noticed this certain rudeness towards the child and especially the negligence from the mother irked him to no extent. Who on earth didn't know their child suddenly was suffering from something? What kind of mother was she, for her son not to have gone to talk to her, upon discovering he was having issues? Even if the kid was suffering from mood swings, if the boy had appeared to have been completely normal at first, why hadn't this woman grabbed her child and had rushed to the nearest doctor? Also, who the _hell_ wouldn't have known their child had suffocated to the point their brain had shut down!? If she wasn't so visibly affected by this, he would have most likely sent Child Service on her.

But it was clear, she still cared, these silent tears running down her face weren't fake. Perhaps she didn't know she had been doing something wrong, some mothers just didn't have a clue… And from the look of things, this woman was still pretty darn young to have a fourteen-year-old son, so perhaps she had been a mother from a young age and clueless how to deal with her kid as soon as he left the cute baby stage. Dr. Martin had seen it often enough, but rarely had he needed to break such tragic news to someone like Mrs. Ketchum. As dysfunctional as a family could get, it was still a family -sometimes unfortunately so- and it would still hurt to hear a part of it would, in essence, be missing, possibly forever.

"Would you like to sit with him for a bit, Mrs. Ketchum? Because I assure you, we are not giving up hope, this is only the second day and we will give him the best care we can give."

"I-I… Yes. Yes, I have a gift. For him"

The doctor nodded, trying to keep his own emotions at bay as much as he could, as it would hardly look professional should he start crying as well. As much as he was affected by the sad state this child was in as well. However, as he stood, the boy's file in hand, all the contents of it came falling, causing him to pinch the bridge of his nose, sigh and start collecting all the papers strewn all over the floor.

'The world is out to get me today,' he thought bitterly and tried to save face by being as quickly as possible in cleaning up the mess.

Though neither the professor or Mrs. Ketchum seemed to mind his fumbling. Understandable, they had other things to think about, much worse than a doctor who wasn't quite feeling like himself today. Even as they had gone towards the room, the situation only got a whole lot more creepy when the woman placed a music box on the nightstand. She probably meant well, but the nurses here were superstitious. If that thing suddenly got into gear in the middle of the night, he would be hearing about it for weeks. As if getting evil looks from the professor wasn't enough, just because he wasn't let inside of the room.

"There is only so much you can do for her, sir," dr. Knight said, having come to dr. Martin's aid when he had noticed the professor's oppressive glare aimed towards his colleague. "I know you are aware she must get all the support she needs, but she will have to ride a large part of this emotional rollercoaster on her own."

"I can ruddy well try and help her anytime."

"She is an adult, sir, you need to give her the time and space she needs to figure out how to deal with this. Oppressing her with your good intentions, boxing her into a future with 'it's going alright' only for it to show that it _won't_ … What good will that do? Besides, you have to deal with your own emotions as well, I can see you care for the child as well. And that's perfect, children can never have too much support, but what when you can't even handle yourself? No one told you to carry the troubles of the world on your back, you will regret attempting it, sir."

"The only thing I'll regret is leaving a woman who's falling apart on her own."

"Ah, and how will you fix her grief, sir, if she does potentially fall apart? Or her family? By giving her your grandson to care for, perhaps? I'm sure Gary wouldn't mind, even though it will only have negative consequences for him. Mostly because Ash isn't gone and there is still a healthy chance he will wake up one day or another. Only to discover he's lost his mother to someone he considered his friends."

"I heard something else than a _healthy_ chance."

"Oh, so you have already written the boy off, have you? It's barely the second day he's been in here. Makes me wonder why you're here, sir. To save the boy, or to save the boy's mother."

"I _do_ care about Ash."

"Then you might want to try and make an effort to respect the man who is giving that child his everything," the therapist countered calmly. "You see, I understand, I've arrived over an hour late to my job too, sir. Traffic was horrible indeed, but it gives you no right to work it out on a doctor. I'm stressed too yet you did not see me yelling at everyone who suddenly makes a move I dislike. Luckily for me, _you_ are here, so if you are ready for it, sir, I have a whole lot of stress I can dump on you too."

"That would be unfair."

"Ah, and showing such a despicable attitude towards a doctor isn't? I know you feel bad, sir, but it's not our fault the boy was hospitalised. We are here to help, but what are you doing for him, other standing here and giving his only hope evil looks?"

"It's okay, Oscar-" dr. Martin started.

"No, it's not _okay_. Nothing is okay today, from the moment the navigation system in my car thought I was driving a bloody submarine by directing me straight into route seventeen to the moment where you, our dear professor Oak decided it was a good idea to try and muscle his way into the room of a patient? Have you forgotten that you have no jurisdiction here, sir?"

"You had the same issues with your navigation system?" the professor uttered.

"Oh no, you're not changing the subject as easily as that."

"This has happened before, when Ash was born-"

"Don't say that."

"But-"

"Mrs. Ketchum is _not_ thinking about the birth of her son, she's trying to get to grips with a possibility he might die. Let her," the man all but ordered. "People are allowed to grieve and in a way, even if Ash wakes, she will have lost a piece of him. Perhaps this will teach her to respect the time she's got left with him."

"She's a good mother!"

"I never said she wasn't," the therapist sighed, clearly starting to lose his patience with the man. "But she does lack things. Do not forget, I've spoken to your grandson and what he told me suddenly made me realise what was going on here. And let me tell you, you've put ghosts into that child's head as well, comparing him and his friend to someone you once knew and loved and yourself. Gary himself told me he was on far better terms with the boy than you have ever been with that woman, sir. I think it's about time you let go and focus on someone who needs your meddling far more, because you might be a pokémon professor, a more than decent one at that, but you're a _grandfather_ before anything."

Initially, dr. Martin feared he would be the sole witness of dr. Knight's spontaneous combustion, but the professor sighed deeply and let his shoulders sag. The doctor did make a mental note never to try and start arguing with a therapist who had contact with one of his relatives.

"I know. I never signed up for caring for a teenager. But Blue left and I…"

"Just like Mrs. Ketchum lost her husband, making the same mistakes you made. Only, Gary and Ash have a different character, so they responded differently."

"… It's a mess."

"The whole world is, but you still have a lot of time to make up for. Keep in mind that it's a privilege Mrs. Ketchum might not have."

"Oh _god_ … Gary's going to suffer so badly when he hears about Ash's news too."

"As will you. Thankfully, he's there too. Communicate, man, for heavens' sake."

"Yes… Yes, I'm sorry, dr. Knight. And dr. Martin too."

"Thank you, sir." The doctor answered, knowing better than to tell the man it was 'alright' again, dr. Knight was right, treating a doctor like an enemy was never a good idea.

"Why don't you go and get your grandson, professor? He's ready and waiting for you. And if you wish to wait for Mrs. Ketchum, you can wait in the lobby. Just tell a nurse what you're doing and we'll make sure she'll get to you safely."

"Yes… Thank you."

The professor walked off, a slightly dazed look in his eyes, but it was still an awful lot better than his previous state of rage. A rather uncomfortable silence fell, causing dr. Martin to sigh.

"You told him good."

"Oh, did I tell him off too badly?"

"I think so."

"I'm sorry. But I wasn't kidding when I said I was stressed, please believe me. I'm not the only one either. Did you hear about Nina, the midwife? She's been working here for over six years, having delivered over a hundred babies, this year alone and she suddenly started bawling louder than the baby she just delivered. I spend over an hour trying to calm her down, so overcome with emotion she was."

"I didn't hear about that, you know I'm always the last person to hear about news and the like. That being said, I'm not in the mood to carry even more emotional burdens."

"Is the kid's condition really that bad?" the therapist asked, wincing in sympathy.

"Unfortunately. I hope that bringing professor Deare over will add something to the situation, though I have my doubts. She was quite clear in stating that treatments for such injuries are non-existent, as brainstem injuries are so deeply hidden among the lower brain, it's impossible to go have access to the area without causing even worse damage."

"Holy… So basically, all we can do is pray?"

"Yes."

"What a rotten situation. Shall I go and talk to Mrs. Ketchum for a bit? I… I do have a good feeling about this boy, you know?"

"You do?" dr. Martin asked, frowning at the man.

"Yes, I can't explain why but he sounds like a fighter, that one."

"I hope he will be your patient one day, I really do." The doctor sighed. "Go on then, go work your magic. Heaven knows the poor woman can use a bit of support, seeing what kind of obliviously selfish people live around her."

"I will." The therapist chuckled. "Also, could you perhaps bring out Ash's birth record, by any chance? Something the professor said intrigued me."

"… I'll humour you because I owe you one. But on the one condition that you keep any kind of mythical mumbo-jumbo away from me and the boy's mother, alright? You said it yourself, she doesn't need that kind of distraction right now, even if there's a link between these strange occurrences and the child."

"Yes, I will. Thank you."

Dr. Knight disappeared into the room after a grateful nod towards his direction, but it did little to relieve his worries for the future of this boy. No matter how much of a fight you could put up with, there were always battles you couldn't win. Those located on the inside often were the bane of many, whether it was their own body or mind pulling up their defences and there often was little anyone could do about it. No matter how much of a good feeling any doctor had about the case.

* * *

Delia hadn't felt like doing much, having holed herself up in the room of the hotel until professor Oak and Gary had come out to drag her back to Pallet. She found herself unable to smile at the sight of her pristine house, but it seemed like the professor had let everyone know that she wasn't… well… be her usual smiley self and after a small, polite applause from the Pallet residents, she was allowed back in her home. Though with _nothing_ to do.

She had tried the TV, but there was no service, she had tried her phone, no service either. The videophone refused to even start and the woman was not willing to go outside, to get some magazines. The radio did work, so she had left it on, wanting some kind of noise inside the room, even if it was just Pallet's own, uninspiring radio show. Delia had gone to sit into the couch that looked so painfully new against the old ones, which hadn't been damaged. The carpet had a completely different colour than what she used to have, though the light minty green, almost soft teal colour wasn't looking too bad in her interior. The hair on it was longer too and it made her feel like putting her foot in it, to revel in the softness. But as she did, the woman felt nothing.

Perhaps tomorrow would be better, when Mimie and Pikachu would be coming home. Then some life would be returning to this emptiness. In a desperate attempt to try and feel _something_ , she went inside her bedroom and fished out a couple of photo albums. She rarely looked at them, as they brought tears to her eyes, but even that would be a relief. Professor Deare -the specialist in everything cerebral brought in as dr. Martin's second opinion- had been very kind to her, but her words had cut straight through whatever hope Delia still had and now she was lost. Ash was lost. Chances of him dying were slim, yes, but the chance of him waking up naturally and… be a person still were just as low.

Her hands traced the delicate cover of the first album. As she opened it, Delia was greeted by her wedding pictures and let out a sad chuckle, seeing her father stand in the background. The look in his eyes would've shot Red if he could, perhaps metaphorically, as it truly had been a shotgun wedding. She and Red had been twelve and thirteen when first meeting each other, the latter already having been a Champion when they met. They had hit off, despite the fact her parents thought he was a bum. Red had asked her not to tell anyone about his profession and she had respected that. Until the fateful day that she, age fifteen, had come out of the bathroom with shaking hands, holding onto the positive pregnancy test.

Her father had been _furious_ , foam on his lips as he cursed her and Red's relationship. Until it became clear her darling boyfriend was very happy to be a dad and promptly bought a house for the two of them, as an early relationship present. In Pallet Town, a quiet but nice town, full of warm people and the town where Red's parents and his best friend Blue lived at. They had married, but despite the knowledge their daughter was safe and sound, in the arms of a Champion as young as he was, the rift between Delia and her parents had gotten too deep and too wide. They had no trust in the relationship and had straight up told her that they wouldn't accept Ash -who hadn't even been born back then- as their grandchild. That had been the last straw for Red, who had all but exploded in her father's face, showing exactly _why_ he was such a feared Champion. But that confrontation had been the last time she had seen her parents. It had been a cruel way to lose family, but not quite as cruel as Ash's case.

Looking at the pictures of a happy past, the woman sighed at the sight of her blissfully unaware, fifteen-year-old self. What misery she would be facing shortly after this, with Red having gotten mixed up in global issues that had really messed him up so badly. Her poor husband, so young yet so old already, had taken on too much, had suffered more than he could take. She had remained in Pallet Town, just because of the memories the house had, gently caring for her barely one-year-old son, who had been uncharacteristically silent the day his daddy left and his mother wept in his stead. However, just as she had tearfully closed the photo album, she couldn't help but frown, seeing that the sky was already coloured a deep orange colour… and it wasn't even noon yet.

As numb as she was, the woman just shrugged it off and took the album of Ash's baby pictures downstairs. She barely registered having leafed through the thick book, until she saw a very particular picture of the sky… that seemed to look suspiciously like what was going on today. And she remembered, the day her contractions had started, at around seven in the evening, it had already been dark by the time they had belatedly remembered to have lunch at one in the afternoon. A picture of her exasperated husband showing his navigation system was out of order and that his phone didn't have any service caught her attention, onto which she gently closed the book and laid it on the table. She couldn't recall why this made her feel this way, but she needed to get out right now. Something was telling her that things were going amiss outside and Delia needed to see it with her own eyes.

"… Mr. Lance?" she asked, baffled to see the man sit in a seat right in front of professor Oak's laboratory.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Ketchum." The Champion sighed. "Sorry to bother you, you can just walk past me."

"… Not without asking you what on earth the meaning of this is. Have you eaten anything? Do you need sunscreen? Heavens, you're not dehydrated, are you?"

"The pokémon league security network failed earlier this week, Mrs. Ketchum. As concerned as I am to find you've only noticed me sitting here right this moment despite the fact you walked past me every single day this week, I _have_ to be here, to protect the Kanto laboratory. I'm completely fine, thank you."

The woman blinked, indeed unable to remember having seen the poor man sit here, despite her having come here every day to ask professor Oak for a ride to Celadon.

"Does that mean there is a Champion in front of every laboratory now?" she asked carefully.

"Yes, has been since Sunday."

"Beastly. Whatever is the cause of these issues with the security network?"

"The same thing plaguing all the satellite, masts and fibre cables, I suppose. First time in over a hundred years that no news has been able to have been broadcasted all over-"

"No. Not that long. It's happened again." She heard herself say. "Fourteen years ago."

"Is that so?" Lance said, clearly disinterested.

"Yes, I was just looking through my son's baby pictures and there was a picture of my husband, showing his navigation system was sending him to Cinnabar, instead of Celadon and his phone was out of order."

"Why torture yourself with looking at your son's birth pictures, Mrs.? Besides, it wasn't that uncommon for appliances to go haywire back in the days."

"Don't judge me! And Red had good tools at the day. His phone came from the pokémon league, you would've had the same one."

"… Red?"

"Yes, Champion Red."

"Good Lord, I knew he was married but I didn't know he had a kid!" the man exclaimed.

"Why are you so surprised?" Delia asked dryly, being the unimpressed one this time around.

"Because he's my brother. Stepbrother, actually, but we still have the same father."

"… I didn't know that either. But well, you can thank those old idiots in the pokémon league's defence system for Red's inability to have remembered I was pregnant when he left. By the time he came back, the poor man thought I had cheated on him and along with all the other ghosts and skeletons in his mind, it tipped him straight over the edge. But well, I suppose you will have known about that too."

"Unfortunately so. I… God, I didn't know I had a nephew."

"You don't. Not really." Delia sighed.

"Delivery for Gary Oak?" a rather monotone voice suddenly called out, causing the woman to turn with a blank look in her eyes.

"I'll take that, thank you," Lance answered and hastily grabbed the package.

Delia couldn't help but stare at the strange person who was walking away from them. She couldn't tell the gender, though and to her, it was apparent that they had tried very hard to look like they worked at a delivery service, though she couldn't tell which one it was for the life of her.

"Odd," she commented.

"Not as strange as you would think, Gary has been buying some stuff online. Manner of coping, I assume," the man answered. "Mind if I went and gave it to him? I'll go and alert the professor you're here."

"Sure."

"Don't worry, you're not alone," he said and pointed at his chair.

Underneath it was the man's Flygon, who was looking at the sky with watchful eyes. It made no move to even look at her, which was fine to Delia. She didn't need to land in the hospital with a dragon bite either. Besides, it would be kind of stupid for criminals to strike right now, so why they had sent Lance here was beyond her. She didn't think the issues the world was experiencing were so selective anyway and if there really was a villain out to get them all, they would have acted already. No, there was something bigger going on, something that didn't discriminate nor gave benefits to anyone. The realisation gave her a strange comfort, but just as she let out a sigh, figuring she would just accept the end of the world if it came today, a scream of pain made her turn to the door of the laboratory. Her eyes widened when she saw professor Oak and Gary come outside, the latter's hand covered with what seemed to be a kitchen towel.

"What happened?" she asked, merely staring at the scene.

"Someone put a trap with glass shards inside a box and send it to Gary. So he's going to join us to the hospital, alright?" the professor said, looking a bit too calm for some reason or another.

Perhaps he had suffered a bit too much already, as Ash's accident had taken its toll on the poor man as well.

"Sure," she answered. "Come, Gary, you can sit next to me."

"W-why would someone do this to me?" the teen sniffed, clearly in pain. "I didn't do anything!"

"Some people just want to see the world burn," Lance answered, appearing out of the doorway. "Anyway, I've told your senior assistant to take over control over the laboratory, professor. And I'll be here outside."

"Yes, thank you. Come on now, you two, let's get going."

It was far too early to go and visit Ash, though, even if it took a while to get from Pallet Town to Celadon by car. Professor Oak had learned to drive more carefully, with all the navigation systems going haywire but the streets were as good as empty. Pretty much all companies had needed to close down, all their machines malfunctioning or just plain out refusing service so there was little to no traffic. Schools and shopping malls were closed as well, the sliding doors of the latter having gotten stuck in their closing position. People had needed to be evacuated through the fire escape at the time too and it had taken a long time until the mall had been cleared.

" _God_ , it's getting so dark," the professor groaned. "This world is going mad."

"It's happened before, though. Remember?"

"… Yes. Yes, I do. I do hope it's got a different reason for appearing."

"I hope it takes him, Samuel."

The man remained silent, but Delia was strangely at ease at having spoken up that thought. She didn't want to lose her son, she really didn't… but was lying in a hospital a way of living? He was pale as a corpse, he had gotten infections on the deep gashes that had refused to heal and only last week, dr. Martin had told her that the latest MRI-scan had shown a 'growing' darkness around Ash's brainstem area. The swelling had left, yes, as it should, but the damage it left in its wake would leave her little boy a shadow of himself. She would honestly appreciate the darkness taking her darling, if it meant Ash wouldn't have to suffer any longer. The same darkness had cared for her baby when it had become apparent he had some issues during birth, but she had never been told what kind of issues. All she had ever known was that Ash had been carried out of the room and had appeared back in her arms as a perfectly healthy little boy a few hours later.

But it was clear professor Oak didn't feel the same way and she understood… but if he wanted to keep her son alive, despite Ash not being there, just sitting in the same seat, days on end, looking at nothing with the most empty eyes, she would curse him to the end of the world and back for having convinced her to go against her own heart. That was no way of living, she _wouldn't_ stand for it. Ash would never forgive her! For the few times she had taken the effort to go and sit down with him, he had told her he didn't want to end up a 'vegetable' as he dubbed it. He had _told_ her what he wanted her to do and she forced herself to respect that.

It was truly ironic Gary ended up having Ash's doctor stitch up the gashes in his hand, checking if there were no fragments on the beastly trap still in the boy's hand. Dr. Martin had given the teen a tetanus shot as well, just in case something nasty had been on the shards or the trap inside the box. The man looked appalled at the idea of someone sending Gary something as nasty as that but was convinced the teen would be fine… though the boy was doing his best at looking as endearing as possible.

"S-sir? Could I ask you a question?" Gary asked politely.

"Of course, you can."

"Is there a possibility I could see my friend?" he asked and continued at seeing the doctor's quickly darkening expression. "I know it's not visitor hours yet and that only Mrs. Ketchum can see him but could you please make an exception? Please, doctor? I promise I won't cause trouble."

The man seemed torn about the issue and sighed deeply.

"It's not Ash I'm worried about, Gary. He's stable enough, hence why he was moved to the silent ward, so he can recover in peace. But I know you'll be upset when you see him and… heavens, boy, you didn't do this to yourself, did you? So that you could come here and face me directly?"

Despite the doctor looking worse for wear and clearly tired, professor Oak took serious offence to the accusation.

"He's been with me every single day since he was released and opened that box in front of me and Champion Lance. My grandson is not a masochist who would happily put his hand into such a devious trap."

"I'm sorry, I need to check, sir," dr. Martin sighed. "I'll… Alright. Perhaps it would be for the best, to open his room to visitors. But I'm going to need you to hold onto your promise, Gary, I can't risk anything happen in that ward. I hope you understand."

The teen vehemently bobbed his head, already pleased he had gotten his way.

"Come then, I'll guide you there. Though I'm aware you already know the way by now, Mrs. Ketchum."

She simply nodded yet took no effort to walk upfront. As nice as the nurses who greeted her were, Delia hated she was starting to recognise their faces already. Despite this hospital's best efforts, the colourful drawings on the walls were more depressing than anything. The woman had dreaded going to this 'silent ward', named after all the young coma patients they kept there. Much to her dismay, it had looked normal, yet still had left such a strong impression on her, the first time she had entered the ward. Ash's room was beautiful too, with a blue, mint-green theme going on, perfectly matching the small music box the nurses had dutifully moved along with Ash and the window had a beautiful view of a garden… where countless pokémon had seemingly started to settle in. Dr. Martin hadn't seemed worried about it, saying that it was why they had installed the garden for in the first place, so she quickly figured she shouldn't be bothered about it.

Once inside the room, the woman automatically went towards the same seat she had sat in, ever since Ash had been moved here two weeks ago. She lovingly took his hand and pressed her lips to it, already used to the fact it wasn't as warm as it should be. They hadn't told her to be careful with the heated blanket on top of her boy's body for nothing, right? Just as she felt herself sliding into the eased comfort of being near her little boy again, Gary's choked sob at the sight of his friend startled her out of her reverie. For a second, she wondered why he was so sad all of a sudden, before remembering this was the first time he had seen her son since the accident.

'How _dare_ he,' she thought, sudden anger coursing through her body. 'How dare he look that way at my perfect baby-'

"Easy, Gary," professor Oak said, causing the woman to turn her back towards the teen.

"He's lost weight."

"Loss of muscle mass, Gary. He's not been active for a while now, so his muscles aren't receiving the stimulations of movement they're used to and start losing strength and tension. It's only normal."

"But he looks-"

"He's asleep, Gary."

The teen fell silent at that, something the woman was thankful for. She did see him walk around the other side of the bed and ever so gently stroke her son's hand.

"I thought nothing could hurt him," he whispered.

"No one is invincible, Gary."

"I know but… It's just… Ash made the most wonderful, unbelievable things seem real and I just…"

'Stop it,' Delia thought, feeling her resolve to not let her son suffer on the verge of collapse.

"I know, my boy, I know he did. He's been a great source of joy to all of us," the man said, though his voice wasn't completely stable.

"I miss him."

The woman pinched the bridge of her nose as she felt the tears prickle in her eyes. It truly wasn't fair, but he wasn't gone yet. She'd fight for him until the end but how would she know? The longer her boy slept, the more it would become apparent he wouldn't wake up alright. But had 'alright' ever been an option? When he had been shaken about so roughly, dragged through route one, all the way to Viridian forest? All she could do, was say a silent prayer on the way back home, with the silent teenager clutching his hurt hand to his chest right next to her.

By now, the sky had gone ink black and it was only two in the afternoon yet… it was fitting. Delia found the darkness comforting, possibly not able to stomach any kind of sunshine or nice, blue skies over her head just yet. Upon getting out of the car, total silence could be heard, professor Oak's car giving one final click before refusing to start.

" _Hell_ , what is going on in this world?" the man exclaimed, his frustrations finally having found an outlet. "For fucks' sake, I can't leave the car here in the middle of the road?!"

"Is everything alright?" Lance asked, coming from around the corner, having been attracted to the scene due to professor Oak's frustrated exclamation.

"No! This stupid car refuses to move."

"I'll help you push it into the garage, professor, try to remain calm."

"It's already bad enough I can't see a damn thing!"

"Yes, I know, professor, I know it's frustrating," the Champion said, trying to appease the man. "You can take the steering wheel, I'll push from the back."

"If… if you want, you can come inside for a bit, Mrs. Ketchum," Gary offered, looking at her with wide, startled eyes.

"I… Yes. Thank you, Gary."

He nodded before leading the way up the path, eerie lighted with the only light source being the laboratory's outdoor spotlight. A noise sounded out and it took both of them a moment to realise that Lance's Flygon was still underneath the chair. The dragon was giving them a sad, longing look and her broken motherly feelings took a hold on her.

"Poor dear," she whispered as she held out her hand, which the dragon nuzzled, if only for the warmth. "Try and convince your trainer to come inside when he returns."

The creature let out a huff of air, which sounded like a strange kind of sneeze but nodded shortly afterwards.

"Good boy."

They resumed their trek to the inside yet Delia couldn't help but wonder why Lance's powerful Flygon looked so lost and scared for. She hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary but figured she might have missed it, knowing she was missing emotional cues like mad. Gary had done everything to be proper to her, though, offering her a seat and a drink, though looked insanely lost when she accepted the seat but not the drink.

"I'm sorry if I upset you. Mrs. Ketchum," he said softly.

"I've been upset ever since the accident, my dear," she admitted.

"I never meant to be mean to him, you know? I… I just wanted to be close to him, but the other kids kept telling me what a loser he was, while I've never seen anyone like Ash before. Perhaps that's why they were saying those things about him, that they were jealous because they would never be as special as he was."

Delia shrugged helplessly, knowing that people had been mean to her poor boy from the start. Calling him a 'Champion's bastard' and much, _much_ worse. And then Ash had grown up to be so magical, the ability to befriend anything and everything... but even so, assumptions were faster and there were plenty of people who didn't care about her son. There had been plenty of men who told her to forget Red as well, but Ash had inherited her stubbornness. If she couldn't have Red, then she didn't want another man, as simple as that.

"It's not fair," the teen whispered.

She merely nodded, not trusting her voice right now. Silence fell between them, the only sound being the scuttling of assistants in the background.

"Are the two of you alright? Do I need to make something to drink?" professor Oak asked, looking from Delia towards his grandson in confusion.

The woman shook her head, though Gary accepted the offer yet told the man he would go and get it himself. If the professor seemed bothered about that, he didn't show and merely went to sit in the couch in front of Delia.

"How are you holding up, my dear?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "I don't think I can make it work without Ash, but what should I do? What should I do when dr. Martin calls me later today, to ask me if he needs to add life support? "

"… I can't answer that, my dear. It's completely up to you."

"Ash told me he didn't want to live like that. He had become very upset about it too, as if he knew something I didn't," the woman continued. "He smiled and smiled and yet I can't help but think we all messed up royally."

"I think you need to find Red, Delia."

She snorted at that.

"You don't know how angry he was when he left, Samuel. He hit Ash and oh, my son remembers."

"He was one at the time!"

"As if we didn't give him enough examples of anger and dismay to have recognised it from such a young age! He _remembers_! Just as he remembered having been shunned, just because of his father! That you made the bus leave early on his very first summer class, without telling me, so I could make sure he wasn't _late_! Or the dismay I showed when he failed your tests, even though it was clear someone had tampered with the results! _God_ , we've done him _dirty_ , Samuel, we never deserved Ash!"

"I promise I'll make it up to him, Delia. To sort out our differences, I… I never thought he was an idiot, I wouldn't have made him part of my research team otherwise."

"You didn't make him part of your team, Samuel, you made him part of your research," she hissed. "Behind Ash's back."

"… I'm not perfect, Delia. All I can do is show you I can make it right."

She sighed loudly and turned away from the man, not in the mood to stand these empty promises any longer. All she wanted to do was go to bed and sleep, even though she knew her mind would torment her and not allow her any rest.

"Euhm, hello, professor? Ah, and Delia," Lance said, carefully peeking behind the living room door. "I was wondering whether it would be okay for me to guard the laboratory inside? It's becoming frightfully cold outside and Flygon's not meant to deal with that outside of a battle."

"Oh, of course, Lance, come inside. If needed, there's another security measure I can deploy, which I'll probably do manually myself tonight."

"You do?" the man asked.

"Yes, at the time when Team Rocket posed a threat, metal panels were installed, to be placed in front of the windows and the doors. I've invested in having them build on the inside, so that you can't see the metal panes on the outside."

"Smart."

"Thank you."

The uncomfortable silence fell again, neither adult knowing what to say. Delia was left feeling even more miserable, knowing that her negligence was one of the reasons why all this had happened. Oh, if only she could turn back time, she would do things _so_ differently. And perhaps, with Lance here, there was a chance she could get Red to see how wrong he was in thinking Ash wasn't his son.

"You haven't seen what I have!" a voice suddenly erupted from the kitchen, clearly Gary's.

There was someone else with the teen, the mumbling an effort to calm him.

"He looks _dead_!" Gary exclaimed, causing Delia to cringe. "I have to live with the fact my last words to him were that I called him a dim bulb! While he was the most radiant, shining person I've ever seen in my life and now it's gone! My own words have come to bite me in the ass so bad, Tracey! It's not _fair_!"

"Gary, calm down, you're making me upset." Said the other voice, Tracey's, a little louder than before.

"You should be! We're going to lose the best friend we've ever had and none of us gave a damn about him! We weren't friends, we were the nails to his fucking coffin, that's what!"

"Don't say that-"

"None of us were ever there for him, while Ash would trip over his feet in his haste to get to us when we needed him! How's that not true, Tracey?! Have you bothered to check in on him when he came home? No, because you have better things to do than look at the one who made you end up here, who introduced you to the life you're living!"

"I-I…"

"You were herding CATS! Fucking CATS! Ash would've loved them to death if only you could've bothered to find a box and bring them to him!"

"You're not going to spring that on me, you hypocrite! As if you didn't start to bully him as soon as you could speak!"

"I apologised for it! And he accepted it, without a grudge, like the good person he was!"

"He _still_ is."

"I bet he is! I BET HE IS!" the teen screeched. "But whether he'll still be so tomorrow, heaven knows!"

A door slammed and Delia had no doubts Gary had run upstairs. He had never been good with confrontations, after all. She had been there when the teen had apologised to Ash and while she had been appalled at the fact she had thought the two to be best friends and hadn't noticed the bullying, she had seen how shy and uncomfortable Gary had looked. Ash, however, hadn't been taken aback and just smile his ten-thousand-volt smile while he opened his big heart and accepted his former bully's offer of friendship as if it nothing happened.

She was only lightly aware of Lance's hand on her shoulder and if only she would have known Tracey would come to them to answer his questions, she would've made an effort to look less miserable. However, the teen did exactly that and seeing the three adults, hunched backs, shoulders low and all expression varying from hurt, grief, sadness and misery, Tracey had not needed to speak up, his mind answering all his questions with the worst kind of answers. His eyes had teared up in a mere second and his hand flew to his mouth as he whirled around and escaped, possibly to one of the many guestrooms inside professor Oak's laboratory.

"Good lord…" the professor sighed, after a distant slam of a door could be hurt. "All that theatre for nothing. It was a bad idea of dr. Martin to let Gary see him."

"Depends," Lance answered. "Having a nice, heated argument is good for tension and besides, the kid is still alive. Let them prepare for the worst, if he comes out alright, the bigger their relief will be, but perhaps those two will learn to have some respect."

"H-he… He won't come out alright, " Delia uttered. "I… I need some air."

The Champion had a hold of the woman in seconds.

"Are you okay?"

She vehemently shook her head, feeling sick as she knew now that even his friends felt like they had failed her son. And it was the truth, not even Misty or Brock, who could both come by bike, bus or even on foot, had bothered to even come by or just give him a call or a bit of attention. She knew Ash wasn't good at keeping in contact, but once you had his attention, he was there for you. And everyone had just taken him for granted, the poor darling.

"Come on, then, let's get you home," Lance uttered, though the man was slightly startled to feel a tap on his shoulder.

It was the professor, who mouthed 'stay' and pointed towards Delia, before putting his hands to together as if begging him to do so. He nodded, the message clear enough. The man felt like it was for the best, as the poor woman was shaking and was as pale as a sheet of paper. Typical teenager behaviour, to put both feet into a sensitive spot and heaven knew what Gary had been thinking, having such a loud argument in front of Delia. Then again, professor Oak's grandson was smart when in full control of his emotions and it wouldn't be good to underestimate him. Despite the fact the teen possibly had a good, long look at the crudely amputated leg, it took some serious skill to see that the straight angled cut didn't conform to how _any_ kind of pokémon exciting in Kanto cut thing up. When the professional team of researchers got a hold of the leg, it hadn't taken them long to agree with Gary's theory, but their outcome was even worse. Ash had discovered a new kind of pokémon and had paid a terrible price for it.

Why it had hurt him or had gone as far as to kidnap him from his home, was beyond Lance despite him being hyper-aware of the situation. As the Chief Superior, he was an overseer of all the cases and detectives and thus, knew many things. Hence why he had been on the scene to overhear the kid desperately needed a blood transfusion. After realising he had a blood type that matched with the young victim, he had hurried over towards the hospital. This wouldn't be seen as meddling by _his_ Superior, though if word got out that the boy was his nephew, he knew he would be stopped from overseeing the case. Didn't mean anyone could stop him from visiting his newfound sister-in-law or her poor son, though. He felt a great deal of pity for her, hence why he dutifully took it upon himself to get the woman home… only, he knew it was going to be awkward.

This was a mother who was coming to terms with the loss of a son she clearly loved to bit and even if Ash was still alive, even if he would wake up, chances of him waking up as if nothing happened were non-existent. Or so he assumed, judging from professor Oak and Delia's faces during Gary's emotional outburst. Lance understood how it felt to see someone you loved lose a part of themselves, becoming a shadow of who they used to be. He was almost glad Red hadn't stayed with his wife, because of … Ah, he had gotten such bad PTSD he could barely stand, shaking so hard, he couldn't even reach a glass of water. His memory suffered greatly and there were no words that could describe Lance's feelings when he had caught the man staring at the sink, so incredibly fascinated by how the water was coming out of the faucet. It had been upsetting and he knew he had needed some time to process that he had lost his brother, as there had been a period when Red had been so immersed in his demons, he hadn't recognised Lance at all. So he decided to be patient with the woman who meant well, even though the execution of her intentions could use some work.

'And I've not been forced to take those lessons in socialising and anger management for nothing," he thought, still slightly annoyed Mr. Goodshow had less than gently told him to get help.

He wasn't without demons but he would like to think he was on good terms with them. So unless there was an actual _bad_ criminal inside the woman's house, she would be quite safe with him. Or at the very least, safer than she would have been if left on her own. Who knew what Delia would do to herself, given the chance to act out on the bad thoughts she was having? Having both Gary and Tracey trample her most overly sensitive feelings had clearly left its mark on her.

"Do you have your keys with you?" he asked softly, trying to ignore that Flygon's tails had crawled up the back of his shirt, eager for warmth.

"Yes. In my pocket."

"Will you be able to manage?"

"I'll have to."

"Not right now, I'm here."

The woman didn't comment on that, showing that she was quite able to open her front door by herself. She quickly scuttled inside and Lance felt a bit left behind when she disappeared into the dark hallway.

"Don't stand there on ceremony," Delia's voice said and her figure soon showed when she had successfully found the light switch in the hallway. "You put your shoes in the rack at the left."

"… Alright," he answered, figuring she had accepted him as part of her family already.

As good as that was, he did sigh before following her inside. The man wasn't sure whether it was the darkness, the sudden cold or the woman's caring yet rather stoic and sad attitude that worried him the most. Either way, this would be the place where he would be spending the night, so Lance steeled himself, determined to make the most out of it. No matter how dire or odd the situation was.


	3. God Looked Upon What It Had Done And It Was Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Insert Pterodactylus noises*

Around six in the evening, the electrical network failed, causing darkness to spread all over the regions. Yes, not just Kanto or Johto, whose networks were connected and the first to deactivate but also all the others, including even the faraway regions of Oblivia and Galar. Not that they knew of each other's miseries, there was no news shared in between them, no internet to share stories with family, friends or even enemies. There were no means of communication whatsoever and while humanity lamented over that fact, the greater force that was the cause of this worldwide mayhem was quite pleased with it. They didn't care about petty stories or drama, they needed a mistake rectified _quickly_. Something that could not be captured of film or posted stories about, for it would endanger them all.

It was much easier to dull the senses of all humans than to deal with each of them separately… even if this oppressive, almost tangible darkness wasn't the most subtle of options, it still got the job done. Some incidents would most likely be shared by people once the hold on their ways of communication was loosened, but there was no proof supporting their experience and mere words would not be enough. The most important part was that the plan had worked and now, it was time to let morning come and start over as if nothing happened. No matter how long it would take, humanity would _always_ forget, no matter how dire or severe the situation. They would know, they had been there to see these the world make the same choices, good or bad, over and over again.

"… Good morning, doctor."

Dr. Martin eyed the dishevelled looking nurse for a moment.

"Is it?"

"Nothing you would like to hear, doctor."

"Try me."

"… There were incidents."

Nightshift nurses in the paediatric department often had their hands full with all kinds of strange demands and behaviour, so the man was not too worried. The number of times these poor men and women had needed to be treated for scratches and bites from rogue kids was saddening but some people just didn't know how to teach their children anything, not even respect. However, as he gave her another look-over, he didn't notice any kind of injury on her except for the usual tiredness dulling her eyes.

"Such as?"

"Perhaps you could take that to the therapists, doctor. They… have been talking to each other, rounding up evidence and the like."

" _Evidence_?" the doctor repeated indignantly. "I wasn't aware I was suddenly working in a police department?"

"I told you that you wouldn't like to hear it, doctor," the nurse sighed, clearly not wanting to deal with this.

"You're completely right about that. And I _will_ take it up to the therapists."

"… Yes, doctor."

Despite the nice, warm morning sun having woken him up, dr. Martin's good mood was as good as gone upon hearing that over sixteen grown-ass adults had been congregating in one of the meeting rooms. There was indeed a small pile of 'evidence' on the table and it had _infuriated_ him to the point where he had just left. He had more important things to do than to watch people slowly demoting themselves to a level _far_ beyond the mental capacity of their patients, after all.

By the time the man had reached the silent ward, he had already calmed down somewhat. He was still internally grumbling about what he had just witnessed, though, even as the doctor prepared some papers to get some scans and tests done later today. With the news and internet back in order, as well as all the rest that had suddenly stopped functioning properly, he was ready to start sending information around. Last night, when the power had gone out and the emergency generators had activated, it had been _mayhem_ and now they had a large amount of work to catch up on.

"You look like you need to lay a large, square egg."

"You would too if you were me," the man commented, not looking up from his papers.

He desperately needed this young patient's MRI-scans done, if not an fMRI-scan, as he did want to see what exactly would still be in working order in case this boy woke up.

"Are you a doctor?"

"I'm not wearing this name tag for show."

"… Are they rare?"

The man pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering why everyone had suddenly lost their ability to think and understand questions harder than one plus one equals two. He let out a deep sigh as he straightened… only to see the confused look of a patient he hadn't thought to ever see awake.

"Nooo… I… I don't think so," he answered hesitantly. "You're in a hospital, I suppose you're going to see several more today."

"Really?"

"Yes, I believe you will."

Whether or not he would be very comfortable with it, the boy would have to go through the planned fMRI-scan and there was always plenty of medical personnel there. But the doctor was insanely curious to check just why Ash had managed to wake up, despite all the injuries this poor kid was sporting. That his patient was conscious and able to speak was nothing short of a miracle, though Ash seemed a bit _too_ calm for his liking. His pupils were extremely dilated as well but dr. Martin belatedly realised this child was still getting the same amount of medicines administered as if he were in a coma.

He made sure to lessen the amount of sedation the IV was offering the teen's body. No one should be given any kind of medicine if they didn't need it and from the looks of it, Ash seemed alright enough to contently watch him move around. Further tests would determine whether he was okay, but for now, dr. Martin was pleased to see the boy's ability to focus on him.

"How are you feeling, Ash?"

"I don't know. How do you know my name? What's _your_ name?"

"I'm your doctor, I'm supposed to know your name. And I'm Jane."

"… Like from the jungle?"

The man suppressed a chuckle as he nodded. It had been a good while since anyone had compared it with a woman this innocently.

"Yes, just like that."

"Lovely," the boy answered, in a particular girly way he could only have picked up from his mother or one of her friends.

The door suddenly opened, of course without knocking. No one knocked on the door at the silent ward, there rarely was anyone in there to it answer anyway.

"Jane, I need to tell you I played _no_ part in that meeting you just walked out of."

"Dr. Knight, please-"

"No, I won't have anyone slandering my name-"

"Are you a doctor too? What's _your_ name?"

The man looked down at the boy in the bed, blinking a couple of times.

"I'm… Oscar Knight? I'm a… therapist?"

"… Like full moon night or the knight saving princess knight?"

"With a 'K'?" the therapist answered bewildered but frowned when the boy chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"O.K.," Ash answered, looking pleased as punch with his deduction. "Good initials for a therapist."

"Thank you," he answered. "Do you remember yours?"

"Of course," The boy replied, frowning quite heavily for such an innocent question. "A.S.K., Ash Satoshi Ketchum."

"Does that mean I can ask you anything, then?"

"… Who's anything?"

"Err…"

There was a short, cautious knock on the door -possibly someone who had heard voices inside the room-, but the child's ears seemed to work perfectly as he turned to look at it.

"… Is that anything?" he eventually asked, pointing at the door with his finger. "Oh, but no, that's a _nurse_ ," Ash added, as it opened and revealed a woman pushing a cart inside.

"Ah, hello, dr. Knight, dr. Martin. Is it alright to disturb you for a while? It's time for me to change his bandages."

"Of course, we will step out for a second. Mind you, we will be moving the patient shortly. To a more entertaining area."

She gave him a strange look, but upon turning towards the bed and seeing the boy look at her, a delighted smile appeared on her face. The nurse was very sweet towards Ash and the teen had perfectly mirrored her delight as well. It was all rather strange, yet dr. Martin wanted to bet that his findings would be even weirder.

"That's… This doesn't fit with what you or dr. Deare told me. Or Mrs. Ketchum." The therapist stated.

"I can't explain this either. I won't complain, though and I'll stick to making sure I've given him a full check-up before deeming him completely healthy."

"Of course, of course."

"So, what did you want to say, _Oscar_?" dr. Martin asked as he went to lean against the wall. "About that meeting?"

"That I had no part in it. I didn't even know what they were doing until one of them came to me, to moan about your reaction."

"What reaction? I didn't do anything, I turned around and walked away."

"Yeah, perhaps you should've listened to them for a bit."

"… Are you going to tell me there's actual merit in their nonsense?" the man asked, lip raised in disgust at the mere idea of it.

"The night nurse knew such reactions were going to come at her. You should take some time to watch the video she's shot last night."

"I was told they just had security footage, though?"

"No, one of the night shift nurses in charge for this hallway is scared as heck of the dark. She told me she grew up with her grandmother who unfortunately started to suffer from dementia at an early age and the poor woman often had nightly delusions and well… Years of having woken up by screams and her grandmother looming over her bed seemed to have done a number on her."

"And she just brought a camera with her to work?"

"A 4K Go-Pro with night vision, yes. She usually straps in on when doing her rounds, so she can look back at the footage and sleep in comfort when she sees nothing happened."

"Let me guess, she didn't even try and go to sleep this morning, did she?"

"No, Jane, she didn't leave the hospital at all. She's being treated for shock, she saw some things happen right in front of her but she caught _way_ more on tape than she anticipated. And it messed up her confidence to work here, so it might take a while before she will come back."

"... Do I want to see it?"

"Do your medical tests first, please, Jane. I wouldn't want you to be biased by what you'll see."

"Tch. _Fine_ , then. It better be good, though, or else I'm going to throw a fit and you're going to regret having told me to watch it, Oscar, I swear," the doctor said, starting to feel a bit huffy due to the fact everyone was scared of his reaction to what the nurse seemingly had caught on video.

"Yes, yes."

"Did you get anything from the boy's birth record, though?"

"Oh! That's right, I got into contact with the midwife who helped Mrs. Ketchum give birth and I was kind of shocked to learn that… well… There wasn't much to be said from electric appliances fourteen years ago, but the sky went just as dark as it did yesterday."

"… Really?"

"Yes."

"Doctor?" the nurse asked, startling the two because they hadn't noticed the door opening behind them. "Doctor, you need to see this."

"What is it?"

"Please, just come along."

Dr. Martin nodded, though only went inside the room after giving his colleague a dubious look. He wasn't at all pleased by the hysterics around his patient and he wasn't willing to let any superstition harm the boy. Though no matter how sceptical his take on life and it's extra-ordinary events were, he couldn't talk his way out of the sudden, miraculous healing of Ash Ketchum's life-threatening wounds. He made a mental note to keep his face in check because the boy seemed to be aware that something was wrong. But how could anyone not have been impressed by the fact that the horrible, infected gash on the little boy's face was now just a scar? Granted, it was a very clear, broad white line horizontally crossing his face, but it was so much better than before.

"Ah, but what an improvement it is!" dr. Knight stated happily as he reverted into his therapist role, playfully darting to the other side of the bed, the kid's eyes following him all the way. "My, didn't the nurse do a good job at removing that evil bandage? I didn't think there was such a cute kid underneath all that."

"… I'm cute?"

"Never seen anything cuter."

Ash gave the man a doubtful smile, which didn't sit well with dr. Martin, who was very aware of the fact that the lack of sedation would be showing just exactly who this boy was. Nevertheless, the teen seemed calm enough, so he would wait to give his final judgement of the situation until he got the results of his test.

* * *

Lance knew he had come in too late to ask the professor to relieve him of duty when he got faced with Gary Oak -who looked worse for wear. He wasn't looking his best either, no matter how comfortable the bed had been, no matter how nice the guestroom Delia had so kindly prepared for him was, darkness had become his biggest weakness. Good thing they had been looking at Ash's baby pictures all night before the lights went out, it had at least given him something nice to think about… even though his pessimistic streak had conveniently alerted him that he was guilty of having blown off the kid just like everyone else had.

"He's busy, sir," Gary said softly, with a voice that sounded as if he had been screaming all night long. "It might take a while."

"Ah… Would you mind if I waited for him? I need his approval or signature to leave."

"Not at all, sir, you can take a seat in the living room and wait for him there."

"Thank you. I euhm… Are you alright?"

"I will be, sir, but it will take some time. Thank you for asking, though."

Lance merely nodded, knowing that the teen deliberately kept him at arm's length. Who wouldn't, after all the years he had spent mastering the art of looking as intimidating as possible? It didn't bring him any comfort that he had an option to let people know he was related to Ash, it would've been much easier if someone else would spoil it to the others. Lance barely had the reputation to be talkative, so how on earth would he ever casually mention the kid was his nephew, huh? Not to mention the reactions he might get, as he knew he was guilty of being ignorant. He felt guilty not having followed up on his brother's family, despite knowing Red had been seeing an alternate version of reality and with him only having Clair and his ever-so-grouchy father left as family, he wondered why he hadn't automatically taken the effort to go and check up on Delia.

Perhaps it had something to do with Team Rocket, but that was an easy excuse, wasn't it? The group wasn't completely disbanded, but they weren't as active as they used to be. In these last fourteen years, Lance would've had plenty of opportunities to… you know, go and introduce himself. And then, when he had met Ash for the first time... well, he just wished things could have done differently. If only he had _known_. If only Red had trusted him enough to tell him why he had left Pallet Town.

The man blinked in surprise when a loud noise snapped him out of these dark thoughts. Hurried footsteps came closer and Lance went to check what was going on, purely on instinct. He wasn't prepared so see Delia barrel towards him, thankfully able to skid to a halt in front of him.

"Are you alright?" the man asked, noticing her ecstatic if not a little crazed kind of expression –a _vast_ difference from how she had looked earlier.

"The hospital called!" she exclaimed, tears of joy brimming in her eyes. "He's awake! Ash woke up!"

"Really?" he asked, happy but also confused as the woman had only told him last night about the issues the child could have _if_ he would ever awaken.

"Yes!"

"What's all this racket!?" the professor exclaimed, startling the two when he suddenly pulled his office door open. "I'm trying to have an online conference!"

"Samuel! Ash woke up!" Delia repeated. "He's alright!"

"Well, that's great, but as per usual, he's got the worst timing possible," the man huffed. "I can't help you, Delia, I'm incredibly busy. I can't postpone such an important meeting just because you need a ride to the hospital. For goodness' sake, woman."

Her face fell at the speed of a Dive Coaster. Lance didn't blame her when she whirled around and sped out of the laboratory. Professor Oak didn't seem to think he had done anything wrong, though.

"Oh, what is it now? Surely you understand, Lance, I can't just drop everything for something as simple as that? Public transport exists for a reason and I'm just too important to the community to give priority over anyone. Ash is just a friend to me, I'm pleased he's alright, but there are limits."

"I would have understood if Delia had mentioned a ride, man," Lance answered as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Come on, we both know she would've asked eventually."

"If there were Olympic games for jumping to conclusions, you would get the gold," the Champion huffed. "If she knew she could have gone to visit him straight away, do you think she would've come to tell you first, professor? Do you really think she cares as little as that?"

"What…? No, of course not."

"I suggest you stay in your lane, then. If she needs a ride, I'll be the one giving it to her. So you can… go and play your oh, so important part of the community."

"Ash is nothing more than the victim of a terrible case to you either," the professor grumbled.

"Not quite, the O positive blood type is often passed through generations. My father has it, I have it, my brother has it… And my nephew has it."

"… You're related?" the man asked slowly, giving the Champion a confused look. "Why didn't I know about that?"

"Would it have stopped you from talking smack about Delia-"

"I _stopped_ the talk about her. You're not going to blame me for that."

"If you had let me finish, I was meaning to say Delia _and_ her son, but I suppose you've always forgotten the kid in the end."

"So have you."

"Ignorance is bliss and I wasn't cussing out anyone. Go on, go back to work, professor, I'll take care of the matter at hand."

"As long as you're not going to ban me from seeing the boy."

"I'm not Ash's father," Lance replied dryly.

"Oh."

" _But_ I can always tell Red to get into gear again, I mean, having a young kid in his life would do him some good, I think."

"He's never going to listen to you, Lance, Delia tried."

"She's not a qualified inspector, though, is she?"

"… Good luck, then. You'll need it."

"I've never backed down for a challenge. Mind how you go, professor, I'll be keeping a close eye on you. Some therapy might do you some good as well."

Professor Oak grunted at that and turned around to disappear back into his office. Lance, however, shook his head and stalked outside. He was slightly pissed at the dismissal and how the man had behaved towards Delia. This whole situation was giving him a bad taste in his mouth too, all this cynical behaviour going around this town. It was a miracle this place had produced a trainer like Ash, who had looked so… Well, perhaps that was it, that the boy had also been keeping up appearance, just like all the rest of these two-faced people in Pallet Town. He could only hope that the boy would be honest with him and that he didn't need to use his examiner-tactics to sway the teen into talking to him. Because no matter what, everything depended on Ash being honest… and okay. And the man had a funny feeling that the latter could be the hardest thing to achieve here.

* * *

Ash found himself stuck in the bed. Not in a bad way, mind you, these people just had some might fine pillows. His balance wasn't all there yet, they had noticed that much when he had been placed inside that tunnel with those interesting lights floating around in it. Once they had pulled him out of the tunnel, he had rolled off whatever he had been laying in, straight in someone's arms. Ever since that incident, there had been a steady influx of pillows, which caused him to get lodged inside this comfortable mess that hardly resembled a bed any longer. He wasn't complaining, it was warm and these pillows were a sign of care. He had dealt with stranger ways of showing care than someone trying to smother him with pillows, so Ash decided to just roll with the punches. People who cared were rare enough, so there was no need for him to get annoyed when he was feeling all nice and fluffy.

There was a niggling feeling in the back of his head, as if he had forgotten something important, but whether or not he was still a little drugged with sedation, he just couldn't bring himself to care about it. He would much rather snuggle into the pillows and catch some z's, than worry over something he couldn't remember. He did frown ever so slightly when he saw this pretty detailed plush toy of a Dialga at the nightstand -or whatever the heck those cabinets next to hospital beds were called. But it didn't take too long before the warmth lulled him to sleep and the idea he might feel more awake after a nap, lured him into the comfortable embrace of sleep. He wasn't aware of much, but a sudden outcall of his name snapped him out of his nap. Ash was startled to find himself dropping into the bed, getting pelted with pillows. He could only give the startled looking nurse a sheepish look as he looked at her from underneath several pillows.

"Err… Hi?"

"Are you alright?" the woman asked, quickly coming to his aid to help and get the pillows off him.

"I dunno what happened," the teen answered.

"You were floating."

"Was I?"

"You were," she persisted. "We'll have to rethink our pillow plan," the nurse added, as if people started floating in the air every day. "Can't risk you getting smothered in them."

Ash stared at her.

"Does this happen often or…?"

"You're a little weird, dearie."

"Oh," he said, because he couldn't deny it.

Looking back at the nightstand, he found it empty, while he had fully expected to see the plush toy.

"Where did the Dialga go?"

The nurse looked at him with wide eyes.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"There was a plush toy…" he answered hesitantly, confused and slightly worried because the nurse's reaction made him feel like an idiot.

There wasn't a toy on that cabinet, but the boy would swear he had seen the Dialga right there.

"You haven't been gifted any plush toys, Ash," the nurse answered patiently. "But if you like them, we can always bring some in?"

"A-ah, no, it's just… never mind. It's probably the sedation."

"You're no longer getting any, Ash."

… Yeah, alright, he would settle with the 'being a little' weird part. Hallucinating detailed, plush toys into your room wasn't the end of the world. The floating part, however, was kind of bizarre and he wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Is there anything I can bring you?" the nurse asked. "I would hate you to be bored."

"Err, perhaps some paper and crayons? I dunno…"

Ash wasn't the greatest artist and his hands didn't have the strength they used to have -even though he had no clue as to why he was here _or_ why he felt so weak- but he hated being bored as well.

"Alright, I'll get you some, then. Let me prop you up so you're sitting up first, though."

And as she did, lifting him as if it was nothing, the teen became aware of what this niggling thing in the back of his head had been trying to tell him. He must've looked mortified when faced with the space where his left foot used to be, because the nurse was softly calling out his name.

"Ash? Can you hear me?"

"W-what do I do now?" he whispered, because he quickly realised he couldn't travel in this kind of state.

"Relax, dr. Martin is trying to find a solution to this."

"Is he going to stitch it back on, or what?" the boy asked, highly upset.

"Don't be rude, Ash, we are doing the best we can for you. Perhaps we can even try and get a replacement, a prosthetic limb."

"That exists?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, only to discover at this moment he had somehow taken hold of the woman's hand.

"Of course, if you have questions about it, you should ask dr. Martin."

"I… I'm sorry. I don't understand."

"I know this must be confusing to you, Ash, but trust me, it'll come to you in due time."

The teen looked at her, bit his lip but eventually nodded. The nurse could have sworn the boy looked like he had wanted to say something but had decided against it. But then again, it wasn't her job to pry into his trauma's, she was already up to her knees in the supernatural territory, closer than she found comfortable. Still, this was a nice kid, frightened by what had happened but also by what had changed.

"Quick question, did you know you can float?" she asked.

"No."

"Is there a possibility you could have floated before, without you noticing it?"

"… I probably would've been on my way through the ozone layer by now, so no, I don't think so. Did these pillows float along with me?"

"Yes, they did."

"Yeah… I don't think a sleeping bag would've helped much to stop me. No, I'm pretty sure it's never happened before."

"I see," she said. "Well, I'll get you the crayons and paper, alright?"

"Thank you."

Ash was left alone for a good while but he couldn't bring his head around the fact he couldn't remember how he had lost a part of his leg. Yeah, he had gone in to touch the remainder of his leg and he had sighed in relief at finding his knee still intact. The sudden stop was startling enough, because his leg did end almost straight under his knee and it made him shiver. What had happened for him to-

The boy sat up, a sudden bout of nausea hitting him as he remembered the book he had been reading, innocently sitting on the couch. There had been a strange noise at the backdoor and he had turned to look at it and this… this _thing_ had come-

One thing was certain, the nurse had stellar reflexes, having zoomed towards the bed the instant he felt like vomiting. She had pushed this cardboard thing in front of him and it didn't look big enough to do the job, but it would have to do, because Ash couldn't stop himself. At least the nurse didn't scream bloody murder, because his head was killing him right now.

"Perhaps you're better of laying down a bit longer," she hushed, taking the cardboard tray put of his shaking hands and placing a fresh one in them.

"I-I'm sorry," he uttered.

"It's alright, Ash. You're okay. Just lay down for me."

The teen did but found no rest as he laid there. He didn't want to think about the memory but it somehow kept popping up and by the time Ash had curled up in the bed, trying his best to ignore his evil brain trying to make him face the memory anyway, dr. Martin had come back inside the room. The man had gotten an update from the nurse about what had happened and despite the fact he wasn't at all happy about the floating bit, he refused to drop the case. He still needed to see this video dr. Knight was going to send him but he would be damned if he let this kid to his own devices, just because _he_ couldn't stomach it. Besides, he was just sceptical about the supernatural, but if it played out in front of him, he would just need to accept it and move on.

"Ash?"

The teen peeked out from under his arms, having crossed them in front of his face, as if scared about something.

"Are you okay?"

"I was better off sedated," the boy whimpered.

Dr. Martin winced in sympathy. He lowered the bar at the side of the bed and went to sit next to the boy.

"What made you sick, Ash? I mean, I can do a check-up, but I don't think anything's wrong with your body."

"Isn't there?" Ash croaked, voice breaking. "I'm missing a part, what's right about that!"

"Just because you're missing something doesn't mean it suddenly becomes wrong," the doctor answered patiently. "I know you're scared, but that's completely normal."

"… Is it?"

"Yes, of course, you would freak out when you're met with a situation you've never been in before. But it's not only that, you can't avoid advancing in life without facing it on a day-to-day basis. Anyone would find that scary."

The boy nodded slowly. A bit _too_ slowly, so on pure instinct, the doctor reached out to touch his patient's forehead.

"You're little warm… How are you feeling?"

"Just upset. Sorry."

"Mm… I'll see if I can urge dr. Knight to be on standby."

"Okay."

It never was a good sign that a teenager had fallen silent and the man didn't know how to feel about the boy's lack of complaining. From what Ash's mother had told him, dr. Martin would have expected a lot of trouble keeping the kid inside of this room, but perhaps this was in effect from the brain damage. Even though it had all miraculously healed, there was still a chance something would affect the boy but for now, he would leave it at that. There was a reason why he wasn't a therapist himself and as such, made sure Ash was comfortable and somewhat okay… before preparing himself to receive a possible over-excited mother.

Ash, however, sighed deeply once dr. Martin had left the room and if there had been anyone in the room, they would have seen him trying to smile again. He knew that the doctor meant well and he genuinely enjoyed the idea that a stranger cared as much as this man did, but he didn't really understand why he was here still. In the short while he had been aware of himself and his surroundings, he had understood there was nothing bodily wrong with him. All he saw were people with these tentative, relieved smiles. It didn't sit well with him that the nurse had tried to play off the loss of part of his leg as if it wasn't that big a deal. Yeah, great that they could replace it but he would rather have not lost it at all.

'This is all messed up. Including myself,' he thought as he pulled a pillow into a hug.

All he had wanted to do was to be at ease, at home and rest up before going to a different region and have fun over there, but there was always something out to rain on his parade, wasn't there? Perhaps there was an unwritten rule in the universe stating he wasn't allowed a time-out? Not to mention the fact the teen wasn't at all happy about the floaty bit he had just gotten to learn about, he wasn't that fond of stuff flying around or moving on its own. He would blame Gary and his cronies for having forced him to watch all those scary movies when he hated horror and the like with a passion and heck, now that he thought about it, wasn't it already bad enough he had needed to deal with his Aura? Which had seemingly gotten an invisible okay to start acting up at such a bad time?

There had been so much on his mind, worries he couldn't stomach all on his own and he had just broken down _once_. He hadn't gotten upset because of the food his mother had dropped, but more because her reaction had consisted out of grabbing her coat and leave the house. Leave him. Even while she had noticed he hadn't been feeling alright. She wouldn't have tried to sit down with him and start small talk otherwise. His mom only cared when he wasn't smiling, after all, hence why he was trying to put on his brave face and smile his way back home, where he knew he would feel comfortable. Even with the knowledge that something had come to take him from it, Ash felt oddly confident that it wouldn't happen again.

He blinked when he looked up at the nightstand and saw the Dialga toy again. There was no way he would bring it up with the nurse again, he didn't want to test the woman's boundaries in case she would really leave. But it intrigued him, so with all the strength he still had in his arms -not much, but he made do- he hoisted himself up and placed a delicate kiss on the toy's head. Ash knew he had been in a bad way, the doctors had looked at him as if he had grown a second when he had spoken up and the nurse had seemed so surprised that there was nothing but scar tissue underneath the bandages that had been all over him. He just didn't know the extent of it and he wasn't sure whether he could trust anyone to tell him about it either.

He slowly sank back in the bed, groaning as the effort had taken more energy out of him than expected. The toy stayed where it was until a nurse came by, with some food. This time, as he had seen the Dialga leave, Ash was convinced it was a real pokémon… but that brought him to the question of why it was here. It wasn't until his mother arrived, as well with an unlikely visitor, that the teen realised that he wasn't even supposed to have made it at all. Lance, who he knew to be a Champion and an important figure in the superior police force and just a very busy man, seemed concerned to find him moving and able to converse normally and his mother… She was well on her way to dislocate several bones, but he wasn't going to be a hypocrite and push her away. He had wanted her hugs for so many years, it would just be silly not to settle for it, no matter what the circumstances were. No matter if his mother had been expecting to find him cold and unresponsive.

As his mother calmed down from her initial outburst, the teen noticed his smiling calmed her down. Which was funny as the awkward looking man seemed suspicious of his attitude. Ash made no effort to say anything to Lance, though as he had no idea why he was there and besides, his mother was all over him. Even if he had wanted to say anything to the man, it would have been impossible.

"I'll bring Pikachu with me next time, okay?" she said, gently brushing her hand through his hair.

"Is he okay?"

"Yes, I can go and pick him up at five in the afternoon."

"And Mimey?"

"Oh, he's his cheeky old self, sweetie, don't worry. He came in a bit earlier today, but only because the Chansey inside the pokémon centre were getting tired of having to haul him back inside the recovery room. He kept teleporting out of it."

"Good," the teen nodded, relieved to hear that he was the only one to suffer from lasting effects. "That's… very good."

His mother ended up talking a bit more about how everyone in Pallet was waiting for him to return -even though Ash knew she was lying because there weren't a lot of people who cared about him- and squeezed him a bit more, before she eventually left, chased out by dr. Martin who claimed 'his patient needed the rest'. Now that he wasn't sedated, though, he could hear the conversation ongoing in the hallway. It made him feel even worse hearing about something they should have discussed in front of him, because it was _his_ life and well… He turned away from the door, gripped the pillow again and tried to sleep off his feelings. It usually worked to brighten his mood, no matter what had been going on. Ash made sure to snake his arm around the railing around the bed and stick his foot under part of the railing on the other side of the bed, so he wouldn't be floating up this time around. And with that, he tried to forget everything that bothered him, from the creepy creature phasing through the back door of his house, to Lance's upset exclamation from the hallway just now.

* * *

"Did you see that?" Lorelei asked, having gone to stand next to Agatha after they had gotten together for an update.

Ever since that global disaster cutting off all communication, they had been seeing each other more often and soon enough, Mr. Goodshow would be organising a get-together of all regions, but as for now, it had just been the elites from Kanto and Johto. And they had all gotten a good look at Lance's far-away expression.

"It's not polite to meddle, dear," Agatha answered calmly. "You know how much angles the man has."

"It looks like he's cut himself on one of them. Perhaps it's a relapse from Orre trauma? It has been dark for a pretty long time before."

"I doubt it."

"Mr. Goodshow wasn't pleased to have gotten ignored like that, I bet Lance hasn't heard a word of the entire meeting."

"Which would have been a shame if what was being said was interesting," the elderly woman said. "What are you trying to get at, Lorelei?"

"I messaged Clair and she's fine. So there's no reason for Lance to be upset and I really don't want another Red in the pokémon league."

"That's uncalled for. These men didn't sacrifice their life for your safety to get disrespected like that. I suggest you educate yourself before you start firing off assumptions, girl."

"I'm just saying, Lance is a lot smarter than Red, it could be a disaster if he… you know, got caught 'round the bend."

Agatha tried staring Lorelei down, but deep down, the woman understood her worries. If anything happened to Lance, chances were that the situation would quickly become a hot potato, but _still_ , he wasn't armed and he had taken leave from police work. Yes, she had seen him leave a bit more often and while he didn't stick around in the past either, Lance left with a clear destination in mind these days. So whether he was back in therapy or seeing a woman, something was going on. Lorelei's attitude was uncalled for, though as she had been tardy in even picking up on the man's changed ways.

"I will go talk to him," she relented. "But be warned, I don't want you to take part in this unless I say so. If he _is_ suffering from something, he might react violently and I don't want you to fall victim to it. Lance would never forgive himself and that way, we could lose the two of you."

"And you just consider yourself cannon fodder, then?"

"He can try and lay a hand on me," Agatha answered sourly, the orb in her cane glistening eerily. "I cannot guarantee it will be returned to him after making contact."

"… Right. Try and secure a piece for Mr. Goodshow to talk to later, okay?"

"I won't make any promises."

While Lorelei was debating on whether it had been a good idea to involve the vindictive woman into this situation or not, Agatha made her way towards Lance's office. He usually went to sit in it for a good hour, to leave at a quarter past twelve, so she still had half an hour to talk to him. She made a point of being polite and knock, so that he would realise she meant business and if he didn't like it, well… sucks to be him, then.

"… How can I help you?"

"Perhaps you can help yourself in telling me what's swaying your mind so heavily for you to have ignored Charles three times this week."

"Oh, you're just being curious," the man said, clearly relieved.

"So you have nothing against that? Good, then I'm listening," she answered, sitting herself down in the chair in front of Lance's desk.

"I assume you know Delia Ketchum? You must've seen her during the time you took frequent visits to the pokémon laboratory back in the days."

"Ash is my godson, try and make a better assumption, Lance."

"… Is he? That… complicates it a bit."

"In what way?"

"Emotional. I've only figured out he's related to me and I can barely stomach seeing him this way."

"What way?" she asked, getting irritated. "It's unlike you to be so vague."

"Thanks to the communication failure, news of his accident hasn't rolled out yet but I'm considering stopping it in total," Lance answered. "He was terribly hurt, Agatha but he pulled through and worst of all, he somehow got aware that he wasn't supposed to have made it out alive. And as if losing part of his leg wasn't bad enough, the insurance company is denying the request to pay for his prosthesis and the thing is _so_ expensive."

"Carrying the world on your own shoulders again, Atlas? It's about time you learn to ask for help, Ash may be crippled for life, but no one asked you to pay that entire load yourself."

"But that's the thing, even if I went to ask around for money, the kid's a teenager. He's going to need adjustments over the years, if not a completely different prosthesis, for when he's done growing."

"Again, there's no reason to look at it with such short-sightedness. We can check to see if there are people who are willing to aid and perhaps make a fund for the boy after we know there is enough interest. From what I knew, several of us were in front of the TV when the Vertress Conference was ongoing, just to see one person."

"Money's too tight to mention," he sighed. "Especially around me."

"Ye of little faith. This isn't about you, this is about Ash. That you are related to him doesn't change my view of him, he's performed alright on his own and if I see any change in that, I could hold you accountable for it but other than that, I suggest you get over yourself. You're not Ash's father."

"Oh, I know. About that, what would you think about me trying to prove that Red's suspicions that Delia was unfaithful to him were delusions of his?"

"Unless Arceus asked him to go and sit on that mountain like a new-found Moses, I think it's about time he came down again," Agatha answered dryly. "But I wouldn't necessarily let him have any responsibilities, especially not towards Ash. The man's been on that rock for over a decade, I would be amazed if he can still act like a human being after that time. But letting Ash see his father like that isn't on the top of my list of priorities, because between him, you, Delia and myself, I'm the only one with experience dealing with children."

"True. I'll leave it to you, then. Still, you're convinced Red is Ash's father?"

"I was there to see Delia take on the job at the old coot's laboratory and leave it when she found herself pregnant. I may or may not have walked in on the moment Ash was conceived, Red never was a subtle person and Delia was all too happy to give in to his needs, no matter what moment, what time. There really wasn't any other man around Delia at the time she became pregnant and there was no big, bright star over their ranch, so I have no doubts the boy is his son."

"Good."

"But if you think I haven't told Red about that, you're mistaken. He doesn't listen to me. I think we're going to have to come up with exceptional, unshakeable proof that those two are related to ever convince him."

"I might be lacking people skills, but I'll be damned if I let myself get bested by hallucinations. God, the frigid attitude of the people in Pallet nearly got me, Agatha, it's unbelievable."

"Love is the first thing to go during a crisis, next to art and music. I noticed first hand when my relationship with the town went down the drain."

"Yes, but the professor can be kind of an asshole from time to time."

"What's this? Sympathy? From you?" she asked, her suspicion growing rapidly.

"He lapsed in character right in front of me," Lance answered. "I'm sorry for not having realised he wasn't all that we thought he was sooner."

"He's not a bad man."

"You're not a bad woman either."

"… Thank you," she said, because hearing it from one of the most stoic people around did mean a lot to her. "I'll let you know whether I've been successful in raising awareness for a possible fund for the boy."

"That would be great. Do you want me to send you the location of where Ash is staying? He's allowed visitors, he's just not… very happy. His doctors thought it was a bad idea to let him see his starter pokémon at all, as they think that the two won't be able to be separated once they meet each other again. I say it's bullshit but no one listens to the opinion of an uncle. Anyway, I'm sure he'll like some diversion, so if you're wanting to go...?"

"Yes, I would like that. Is there only a certain amount of visitors allowed?"

"No groups larger than five."

"I'll keep that in mind. Good talk."

"Yeah."

* * *

Agatha left the room feeling less than pleased, because she would have thought Delia would have at least confided in her. She hadn't known Lance to be family either. But then again, with the trouble with Team Rocket, they had been asked to keep their distance… at what cost, though? She had met Ash a couple of times, the kid was a delight, she would go to quite a length to have someone with such a radiant attitude and smile inside the pokémon company. But with Ash barely recognising her as an elite trainer, Agatha had no grounds to stand on. Now, however, the road was open for her influence and she knew he had left his mark on several people. It wouldn't be so hard to breach the subject of needing financial help for the boy, if only she knew _exactly_ what was ailing the teenager. So Agatha planned her visit, making sure she had everything she needed to make Ash feel as comfortable as he could feel in a hospital and left.

The teen woke up the next day with a head full of doubts and pain. He had barely gotten any sleep at all and those past two hours of sleep hadn't been blissful at all, filled with bad dreams and nightmares. Ash was still confused because they had told him they were going to move him to a different room, but he was still in the same one. Dr. Martin hadn't reacted to his floating either, plainly ignoring his questions whether that was normal or not. His life had become one big, white mess and Ash was hating every minute of it as one hour felt like an eternity here. He had been awake for a week now and yet he felt like he had been here for months already, knowing the nurse's by name and knowing when to except the cart coming through the hallways.

"How are you doing?"

Ash looked up, seeing Brandon of all people stand next to his bed, face as stoic as ever.

"… Brandon?"

"I am sorry, Ash. This should never have happened to you."

"Err… Yeah, thanks."

"How is your Aura doing?"

"Euuhm… Fine?" the teen answered. "How do you know about-"

"Were you using it when the creature came?"

"No, I was crying. Look, Brandon, how did you even get in?"

"The door was open," the man said, pointing at the door which was slightly ajar.

But he couldn't have come in that way, the door made a very particular squeak when opened about halfway and a man of Brandon's size wouldn't be able to squeeze through such a small gap.

"I think it is important for you to know an Aura user can only die once."

"… What are you trying to say?"

"No need for another attempt, I said what I had to say. Take care of yourself now, Ash."

"I can't, I'm stuck here-"

"Allowing others to care for you is taking care of yourself as well. Do not resist what is meant to happen."

"Are you saying this was _meant_ to happen to me?"

"You will find I am quite capable of resisting emotional blackmail, Ash, I feel nothing when you try and put words into my mouth."

"You're not Brandon," the boy hissed.

"And you are not quite yourself either, but who am I to judge?"

Ash felt the hair in his neck raising, getting riled up by this attitude. But he refused to turn away from this rude, imposter-Brandon.

"Ah, but that is at least one part of your true self. Defiance, a part I have always enjoyed about you. Go on, tell me what you feel."

"Screw you, I don't have to tell you anything when you already know more than I do!"

"Knowledge would not solve your issue, believe me. It certainly did not solve mine."

"I don't see you stuck in here."

"Is that an offer?"

'Hell no,' the teen thought.

"If you know I am not Brandon, you might just speak up your mind, Ash."

"I… I _can't_."

"Then you can anticipate my arrival here every day, this exact hour, as of now," Imposter-Brandon said and walked out.

"Really?" Ash whined. "Just what I needed, another prying person in my life."

He sighed and figured he would be best of getting used to these weird visitors. If only there was a way Ash could be sure it wasn't a hallucination, though… But he didn't know that previously today, dr. Martin had seen the video the nurse had shot and was severely impressed by what he had seen. As sceptical as he was, those subtle shadows messing with the poor woman had been exactly the kind of things he would truly consider supernatural. He liked horror a lot and objects moving randomly, along with doors opening on command were exactly the freakiness that seemed real enough to pass as real. And the best part was, this couldn't have been a trick with strings, as a dozen nurses walked passed and none of them had found or encountered anything. But the worst part of the entire video was that he had heard the noise of one of the heartrate machines flat-lining. And it had come from his strangest patient's room, which he couldn't get out of his head, the beeping stuck in his mind as it was truly the most horrible situation to encounter as a paediatrician.

Just now, as he rounded the corner to go into the hallway of said boy's room, he got passed by a person who was not supposed to be here. However, as this man walked passed the doctor, it took a while for him to register the intruder, his mind still focussed on the horrible movie. And by the time dr. Martin had registered the man and had turned around to say something about him not being allowed to be here, he was gone. As if he had vanished into thin air.

"… What the ever-loving Furret is going on here?" the doctor muttered, blinking as this was his first-ever experience with the supernatural since he started working here.

It was coincidental it needed to happen right when this strange teen was staying here. His priority now was to have dr. Knight come in and talk to Ash about the floating, because according to the results of the test, the boy had indeed gotten healed. Dr. Martin would have placed a bet on it that a Psychic-type pokémon had been involved in it, mostly because no one else would think humans have a fully, hundred percent active brain. No one had, except for Psychic-type pokémon. Some psychics had elevated activity but never a hundred. Ash was possibly able to float due to this strange, healed brain of his and could be suffering from it right now, as his body might not be used to it and act strangely under the stress of it all. But first, he needed to see the boy, as it could be possible this person had just visited him, despite it being against the rules of this hospital.

"Ash? Ash, are you alright?" the man asked, hurrying over towards the bummed out looking boy.

"Is it possible I'm seeing people I'm not supposed to see?" Ash asked.

"If it's about that tall, broad-shouldered man in the army green overalls, I saw him too."

"Oh…"

"Do you know him?"

"No. Not really no," the teen answered dryly, because he was still utterly convinced that this had been someone wearing the man's face.

Granted, Brandon had the social skills of a Tyranitar during mating season, but he would never be so crude about this. Ash knew he was sensitive, more than before and he got all sorts of cues he had never noticed before… and this morning, he had gotten the brilliant idea to just… try some things and oh boy, he had regretted it the moment he had started. But still, no matter what, this person had been an intruder and the teen didn't like the fact this git had been so confident about their blatant disrespect for the rules of this place and had walked right by dr. Martin as if he didn't even care that he was seen.

"Well, he's gone now. Never got to the end of the hallway, so let's just leave it at that."

"What do you mean, not to the end of the hallway? Did he jump out of the window?"

"I don't know what he did, I turned around and he was gone. Besides, there are no windows or door at that side, just walls and ventilation hatches."

Ash didn't like the situation and his expression made the doctor laugh.

"I understand why you're so vexed, it's not been so long since I would've been very mad about that kind of thing happening to me."

"What happened then?"

"I changed my mind," the man answered.

"… Fair enough."

"How are you doing, though? Any changes from yesterday?"

"Euhm... Yeah, there are some changes. I somehow turned into flipping Mathilda," Ash answered hesitantly, yet still upset about many things. "But then, next thing I know some creep appears in my room, so I'm not sure how I feel right now."

"… What do you mean, Mathilda?"

And as an answer, Ash turned off the light. When he turned it back on, the doctor was staring at him, but the boy stared right back at him.

"… Well, shut the door and call me Marie…" the man uttered as he turned to watch the lights.

"... Alright then, doctor _Marie_ ," Ash answered and the door closed with a gentle click. "I didn't know you were into roleplaying."

Dr. Martin let out a short, hysterical giggle as he whirled around to see the closed door.

"I'm really not," he answered. "Promise me you won't pull this on any of the nurses? Please? They're already superstitious and the last thing I need is them getting a confirmation there's something strange going on. I'll never hear the end of it."

"I don't know what to answer when you ask me how I'm doing, so I figured I could just show you what I was doing before you came in."

"Please don't do it again."

"Okay."

As if on cue, a gentle knock on the door signalled the arrival of someone and it seemed like dr. Martin felt a bit dubious about it. He went and opened the door himself, startling the nurse who had a cart full of toys with her.

"… Is it okay to play a game with him, doctor?"

"Oh… Yes, I suppose so. Do come in, I'll leave you to it," he answered before turning back to the boy in the bed. "Alright?"

"Yes, doctor," Ash answered.

The nurse was all too happy to approach the boy, but the doctor figured talk had gone around already. Ash would probably be the most looked after kid in this entire hospital, because for all these people scared of stuff they didn't understand, they were very interested in seeing it. The boy, in turn, seemed happy enough to have something to look at but then again, dr. Martin figured it wouldn't hurt to have dr. Knight run some tests on how Ash picked up certain colours and signals. Heaven knew what kinds of things he was thinking already, because the doctor noticed the teen had no issue keeping up with his comments.

"So, do you play any instruments?" the nurse asked.

"… Do heartstrings count?"

Dr. Martin chuckled as the woman spluttered in response, offering him a flute instead. He could appreciate the boy's sense of humour and comedic timing. There was no way he was any good at playing heartstrings, though, or else he would have gotten plenty more visitors by now. So the man figured the teen just enjoyed messing with people and in all honesty, it wasn't the end of the world. Not as long as it was all in good nature, of course.

* * *

The doctor reconsidered his opinion a little after one in the afternoon, when he saw two unlikely people come into the lobby. He had just picked up some test results from external companies at the front counter and it seemed like his staring had caught their attention.

"Are pokémon not allowed inside this hospital, doctor?" Agatha asked calmly.

Normally, dr. Martin would have answered that it all depended on where they were leading the creature towards, but he could already guess where they were going. Besides, that Haunter was quite good at giving him the puppy-eyed look, so he would've relented anyway.

"I'm sure Ash will be pleased to see one," he responded dryly. "Room 37B, second floor, silent ward."

"… Thank you," the woman answered and went on her way.

He did not attempt to stop an elite trainer and she meant well. The Haunter was carrying a large bag in its large claws and inside it was a large, plush toy, so dr. Martin figured it would be alright. If not, he knew he would hear about it, Ash had figured out which buttons caught the nurse's attention the fastest a while ago. And the girl silently trailing behind Agatha might look very subdued but she must be feeling strongly for the boy, the look of concern on her face was clear enough and well… the Haunter listened to her, so there was no reason to worry.

The two women were indeed concerned, mostly because the news of Ash's accident had _finally_ rolled out in the news and while his identity was being protected, they knew of the details of the accident. Lance had reported everything to them, mostly because he didn't have anyone else to talk to about the feelings he had about the boy and his misfortune. Sabrina and Agatha weren't the most social people of the pokémon league either, the former commonly known as a shut-in, but Lance hadn't been surprised to hear she knew Ash and that she was very concerned for his safety and wellbeing and happily welcomed her into their little pity-party.

"Thank you for taking me," the girl said softly.

"My pleasure, dear."

She didn't need to know the history Sabrina had with Ash, the fact the Gym Leader had voluntarily reached out to her, the moment news of the boy's accident got out in the open, was enough for her. She had also brought the cutest poncho and Ash wasn't a big lad at all, so he would find some use for it. It was just painful to see the boy sit in that bed, staring aimlessly out of the window.

"Good afternoon, Ash," Agatha stated, to catch his attention.

She got it and the teen seemed confused yet happy to see them.

"H-hi? It's, oh- it's been ages since we've last seen, hello!" Ash said in greeting. "Hiya, Haunter!"

"It's good to see you too," Sabrina piped up as the pokémon happily waved at the boy and went to hover over the bed. "We were very worried about you, after reading about the accident in the newspaper."

"I read it too. Lance came to ask me if they should keep out my name, but I'm not sure whether that helped. There's only a couple of trainers from Pallet town right now and Gary and Green are alive and accounted for. Anyone with a brain could figure out it was me, but I'm not too worried about it."

"The article itself is vague, though. Do you know more about it?" the elderly woman asked, pulling a chair close to her and sitting herself down right next to the bed.

"Err… Yeah, I do. I've been trying to remember, along with dr. Knight, so if you really want to, I can talk to you about what I know. It's not much, though."

"Perhaps you would like a friend to keep you company while you do that," she said and held out her hand towards Haunter, who happily handed her the bag.

The pokémon had nearly hit Ash with it a couple of times too, so the teen was curious what was inside of it. His expression of surprise when the large plush Gengar was placed in front of him.

"Oh, wow, that's…"

"Do you like it?"

"I _love_ him! Thank you, Agatha."

"My pleasure, dear. Now, give him a good squeeze and tell your auntie what happened."

"… Auntie?" Ash asked.

"You're my godson but you might as well call me that. Godmother is a mouthful, after all."

The boy's smile grew at that.

"Has Lance told you he is your uncle already?"

"No? He is?! Why does no one ever tell me anything?"

"I feel like Team Rocket's mischief played a large part at that. Lance only realised he was related to you after he met your mother, but I needed to keep my distance because they wanted to protect you from them."

"Protect me from Team Rocket?" Ash uttered but chuckled. "Yeah, that didn't really work out. They've been hounding me since the first day I started as a trainer. I think they would've more rather stayed clear from me if you had been close to me, but well, that ship sailed a long time ago."

"… We have a lot to talk about."

They had plenty of time and while dr. Martin occasionally came to check up on what was going on, he had no qualms in them talking so calmly. He was pleased to see the boy open up so willingly, he had already feared Ash was suffering from one of the effects of emotional neglect. Hence why dr. Knight had been trying to aid the boy in trying to explain himself better as it had often shown Ash had been incapable of conveying his feelings. He was happy to talk, so that wasn't the issue, he just didn't know what to say. Perhaps it had been a good idea not to bother these two ladies, as they were proving to be a vital part in helping to get the boy to open up.


	4. People are Strange When You're a Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, with a belated, possibly much awaited chapter. This was a hard one, but I've finally managed to finish it. Mostly thanks to the spite some rude ff.net guests caused me to feel, but no matter the means when it gets the job done, huh?  
> I'm please to say I've managed to introduce hover boxes, meaning that, if you spot a foreign looking word or sentence in italic, you can hover your cursor over it and the translation will appear in a box somewhere closeby. Naturally this won't work if you don't have a cursor but the translation of the sentences will be in the notes at the end.   
> Much love to you all and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

The morning of the next day started with a bunch of excitable looking nurses coming into his room, to prepare him to finally move out of the silent ward. But Ash wasn't that excited about it, because they were moving him to part of the hospital where he would have no view on the garden. And the noise he could hear from the other children wasn't going to be much fun either. He decided to ignore it, for now, knowing he had slept through worse sounds and times -like the alarm signalling the start of his journey, for example.

"We'll also be starting your revalidation program as of today," the nurse he had never met before said.

She had bright pink hair, kind of like bubble-gum pink and a matching smile to fit her personality. There were plenty of earrings on her left ear and none on the other side and gosh, Ash was pretty sure his mom wouldn't say anything about it when she would meet this nurse, but she would pull a face nonetheless. He, however, felt strangely at ease with people who expressed themselves as openly as that. At least those who appeared to be weird wouldn't surprise you when it became apparent that they were.

"What does that mean? I've heard dr. Martin say something about muscle regeneration but I don't understand how I can do anything with no balance."

"That's what we'll be teaching you today, balance and stretching techniques. We'll keep up these exercises for the rest of the week and once you've got the hang of them, we'll go to the next part of the program. But it all depends on how well you're adapting, so we might move forward more quickly or slow down eventually. Okay?"

"Sure. Will it hurt?"

"Only if you don't stretch well enough. And you'll only find out whether you've done it correctly the morning after the exercises."

"… Sounds great," he answered.

"Doesn't it?" she giggled. "I'm glad you're enthusiastic about it, Ash."

He chuckled along because he knew he wouldn't be getting out of this anyway. Not that the teen wasn't looking forward towards learning how to start walking again, but this whole hospitalization process was getting to him a little. Ash was a traveller, unused to staying at a place for too long already, not to mention that the longest he had ever stayed somewhere was his home, in Pallet. This kind of stay was bumming him out, with only his mom and uncle coming by for an hour or two. There was nothing familiar about this place, except the things he had come to expect from a hospital.

Now that he was all alone in his new room, the bubbly nurse having left him for some other business, the boy felt even worse out of his comfort zone. There were no pokémon to be seen, just this cold, concrete looking parking zone and like, one shrub that looked like it was struggling to survive. He felt tears coming to his eyes at the mere idea of being all alone again and his homesickness, which he had pushed down into a deep corner of himself as he knew he could always go home, bubbled up. And this time, he didn't have Pikachu to find solace in, his little piece of portable comfort. The one who he could trust to take him back safely, no matter what.

Ash wiped away a tear that had come rolling down his cheek, knowing he was being ridiculous but unable to stop himself from feeling bad about being kept from everything that made him feel safe and at ease. There must be something wrong with him, right? Why else would the doctors decide he couldn't even see pokémon? He didn't dare to bother anyone about it, because he recognised a road to disaster when he saw one. There was only so much prodding you could do before it became annoying and the last thing the teen needed to happen was for his Pallet Town reputation to spread in here, despite that reputation being as false as Giovanni's smile.

"It'll be okay," he muttered to himself. "Just bite through this, it'll be alright."

The door to his room opened again, causing him to sit up straight and turn towards it. A man stood there, an impressive-looking device at his feet.

"Ready to start your training?" the person asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Err… Yeah," Ash answered because if anything, the contraption looked sturdy enough to carry his and the man's accumulated weight.

"Good," the other said and wheeled the device inside the room. "I'm Brandon and I'm going to be your main coach during your revalidation program."

"Good luck," the teen said, feeling a bit bothered by the name double.

He couldn't help but feel like it was a bad time for people called Brandon, mostly because he had felt his uncle had been thinking about the 'visitor breaking visitor hours' last time he had seen him. If Lance had gone ahead and contacted Scott about the man's whereabouts, possible to ask what the heck Brandon had been here for, Ash was sure the curly-haired ringleader of the Battle Frontier would come scream at him. Everything was always his fault anyway, so he braced himself for a possible meeting with the man. It was, however, no fault of his young coach he shared a name with the somewhat stoic Frontier Brain.

"Thanks, same to you, Ash. I've been told I'm a hard cookie to get rid of so don't give up on me that easily. I'm persistent."

"Great. No need for muscle-rolling, Mr. Brandon, it's not like I'm able to run from you."

"You don't strike me as the kind of kid who runs from problems, though," the man answered, not even looking up from where he was setting up the device to its full capacity -yes, it looked even more impressive as he folded it out.

"I can hardly run away from myself."

"Now, now, don't talk about yourself that way. Why don't you try and get out of bed, hm? So I can see what your capabilities are."

"Does falling count as one?" Ash asked as he pulled his blanket off him -because, dammit, this coach might claim to be a tough cookie, but he was ten times more adamant when posed with a challenge.

"The more flailing I see, the better."

There was no need for that, though, the boy was still as agile as before and could easily crawl his way towards the man after he had managed to lower the bar of his bed.

"Impressive," Brandon said as he went to sit on the floor so he could look straight at the teen. "Now that you're on the floor, why don't I show you how to stretch, hm? That way, you'll hate me just a little less in the morning."

Ash complied, though convinced he wouldn't grow to hate the man. Trying to help someone wasn't something he would hate anyone for, even if it would hurt him. People hurt him all the time, it didn't matter whether there would be bodily pain involved this time around. He appreciated the effort and besides, despite his discomfort in the rowing machine -a pretty unique experience, if you asked him- these would be a couple of less lonely hours in his _long_ hospital days.

"I don't like this…" he squeaked, as the machine moved as he moved the pedals, meaning his only leg was getting pushed up towards him.

"Take it easy now, I don't care if you quit after two tries, I just need you to get used to the movement. Or is it hurting you?"

The boy shook his head and moved the pedals away from him, releasing his leg once more. He was glad the other side of the board pushing up his right leg hadn't come as high as his stump was because Ash was certain that would have hurt a bunch. The end was so oddly shaped and sensitive, he imagined it would be impossible for him to even find a prosthesis that would fit well. As much as he knew about it, the limbs often had this round cup on the end of them -or the beginning, depending on your point of view. His stump had this odd, circular disk shape, possibly due to his leg having been cut clean off and then having been healed. He remembered dr. Martin's explanation all too well, that they hadn't had any skin to form a normal-sized stump and well… It hadn't made him happy then, and it certainly didn't right now.

"Well done, Ash," Brandon praised. "Ten times and no complaints, colour me impressed."

The boy grimaced, experienced in performing just that tiny bit better than expected, to keep an adult happy. God, how he missed his friends and the way they didn't have any expectations whatsoever? They weren't the best, because they judged -everyone did- but they were his and he would go to great lengths to keep them safe and happy. Only, did they care as much about him too? If so, why hadn't he seen them? Surely they had seen the news? Even if they hadn't put two and two together, which Ash doubted because everyone was aware he and Gary were the only two teenage and male trainers in the whole of Pallet, why hadn't they contacted his mom?

'Perhaps I could ask her to get my transceiver, see what they're all up to,' he thought, as his brand-new coach carried him back into his bed. 'They always complain they're always the first to message me, so perhaps that'll be a nice surprise for them, for me to message them first for once.'

Despite his legs shaking from the effort of this first exercise since his accident, he felt psyched at his idea to contact his friends. Now if only his mom would come fast enough so he could tell her all about it, that would be great.

* * *

He had to be sleeping. Had to be, there was no other reason why he was underwater, seeing the large, translucent blue crystal sink to the bottom. This wasn't the hospital he remembered being at, this was in the underwater castle, where Manaphy lived! Why was he back here? Why couldn't he breathe?!

"Help! Help me, please!" Ash cried out, clawing around him.

But his body kept sinking, no matter what he did. The boy cried out once more, only to find that someone had grabbed his arm. He too had grabbed onto the hand that held him, crying in relief… only to find out he was _still_ in the hospital, instead of underwater. And that he was looking straight into a worried-looking nurse's face, as well as Scott's shocked, if not scared one.

"A-aah," he uttered, shamefully realising that he had made a spectacle of himself.

His only excuse being the most vivid nightmare he had ever had, despite the event having traumatised him of going into a large pool of water for a good while. But Ash had never truly suffered from nightmares. Not after the first few days after the incident, of course, but that usually was the case after every time he had escaped death.

"You're okay, dear," the nurse said, voice as soft as a brand-new fleece blanket. "You're safe."

_God_ , he believed her. Ash managed a small smile, as sheepish as it probably appeared, but the nurse took it as a sign he was well… sane again.

"Are you up for a visitor?"

"I-is it time already?" he asked, but figured that was the case, or else Scott wouldn't be here, would he?

"Yes, Ash."

"Okay… Okay, I think I can take it. Thank you, miss nurse."

She smiled as she let go of his arm, gently motioning the man in the background to come closer. Ash didn't like the idea he would be alone with Scott, with all the misgivings he had thought off already, but he didn't want to be seen as a coward and thus, let the nurse go and do her job.

"… Hi," he said, feeling awkward as the man came closer, the bag in his hold upfront as if he were approaching a statue to donate an offering to.

Seemed like his bad reaction to his dream had scared all Scott's hard feelings out of him, though, as the man carefully unwrapped a small plush pokémon out of the bag he had brought. In his delight, the teen didn't bother to watch the other's expression, but let's just say that Scott wasn't at all pleased to see what kind of a sunny expression such a small gift brought to the boy's face.

"I heard you once had a Mankey," the man spoke up tentatively. "And that you couldn't have pokémon in here. Figured that this was the next best thing."

Ash nodded happily, accepting the Mankey reverently.

"It's so soft."

"Yeah, euhm…"

"He's a champion now, you know?" the boy continued, keeping his eyes on the toy.

"Who is?"

"Primeape. Recently scored another victory as the international boxing champion."

"Why haven't I see that in your trainer record?"

"He and I had different dreams. I lent him out to someone who was dead-set on making the biggest impact there was, which was what Primeape wanted as well. He'll forever be mine, though, he knows he can come back any time."

Scott looked at the child in pity. Allowing someone to go and live their life to the fullest was one of the nicest things one could do for another… Yet why did Ash look as if he was going to burst into tears?

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"That's not a very good question to ask someone who's admitted to hospital. Besides, you saw what happened just now."

"I did, but that doesn't mean I understand. What was that, Ash? It's not like you to… I don't know. You always seem so confident that everything will work out."

The boy bit his lip as he nodded, feeling sad all of a sudden.

"Dr. Knight said I might have some issues about not always being completely honest about my feelings. Said that not saying anything was as much a lie as being untruthful or something like that. Guess I'm guilty of that," he said, shrugging.

"Oh."

"I'll be getting therapy for it."

Scott frowned heavily, disliking the teen's defeated tone. He wasn't sure he could keep himself from punching that therapist in the nose if they would meet, because the boy's unshakeable character had been completely pulled apart. Perhaps this dr. Knight wasn't completely responsible for it, but it was worrying to see the kid shattered like this.

"You're calm for someone who came in guns ablaze, though," Ash stated, catching the man's attention.

"Why would you think that?"

"You were mad about Brandon, weren't you? I can't say much about it, I haven't seen Brandon in a while, so I might've mistaken him for someone else. But no one has ever asked me about it, I've not said anything about him being here either."

"I see," Scott answered, pulling in a chair. "Tell me a bit about those guessing abilities of yours, hm? I'm interested."

"Of course, you would be. It's hardly a secret in here that I got healed. But I got healed a bit too well, I've picked up some psychic abilities."

"Knowing how someone feels isn't a psychic ability, though, that's empathy. And I know someone who could help you deal with them."

"I doubt Anabel would understand, it's not feelings I pick up on, it's… thoughts? Like things you say to yourself, but not out loud. I can't hear anything private, just people talking to themselves."

"Mightily interesting, Ash," the man grinned. "I'll look into it for you."

"I'm already glad you're not shouting at me, so go ahead. If you want to be a great help, though, I have something that's less obvious but could still be a pain to deal with on my own."

"Yes?"

"It's euhm… Aura."

"Oh, but I have some helpful books _and_ a possible teacher for you. He'll possibly be a bit… gruff, but I can promise you Brandon is serious and passionate about the subject."

"Is that why you were so emotional about him being somewhere you weren't aware of? Is he an Aura user?"

"Smart kid," Scott said, gently patting the boy's arm. "I think Brandon might grow to enjoy your company, after all."

"Promise me you won't force his hand if he declines? I know he'll work out his feelings on me and I… I'm not sure I need that right now."

"That's an easy promise, Ash, don't think I have any control over the Frontier Brains. If they decide they won't do anything, it won't ever happen, trust me. But I'll see what I can do for you, Brandon isn't the only Aura user I know."

" **Mind as you go, the keepers of secrets best remain unaware of his existence."** A voice spoke up.

Ash had heard it before but was just as startled Scott when it sounded out. That didn't mean he didn't like how difficult his life was becoming, with do's and don'ts more specific and threatening than before.

"Oh, you got healed _that_ way, huh?" the man chuckled, clearly used to other kinds of paranormal shenanigans.

"Is there another way?"

"Many. I'm sure someone will tell you all about them someday. Let me go pull some strings for you, yes?"

"Is that okay? Do you need anything in return?"

"Remember that my offer will always remain open for you, Ash. No matter how much Barry is whining, the only place open for the Hoenn Frontier is yours." Scott said. "Don't feel pressured, you can tell me to sod off eventually and I wouldn't think less of you _if_ the position you're settling for isn't miles below what you are qualified for. Take your time to become your greatest, yeah? I know I'll be looking forward to it."

"Even with one leg less?"

"What? Where did it go?"

"A pokémon cut it off."

"… Yes, one leg isn't going to make a difference. Not to me, at any rate. You do you, Ash, take your time."

Despite the man's enthusiasm, the boy felt sad about the fact he might fail everyone and their expectations. Not that it would hurt anyone, but it was still sad, knowing he might have succeeded if some other-worldly creature hadn't come to chop his leg off. Well, there was always still Barry, hm? Ash did wonder why Scott had sounded so annoyed when talking about the teen and it was beyond him why the man had even brought the boy up, in the first place.

'Some people are just weird,' the boy ended up deciding, turning to his side, pressing his newest addition to his array of plush toys close to his chest.

Perhaps this one would be appreciated a bit more, the nurses didn't like the Gengar with its glowing eyes and smile. Ash loved it, but the nurses had the last say in things here and so the large plush was placed on a chair just out of his reach. It didn't matter to him, not now he had a Mankey to coddle. Perhaps it would ward off some off his nightmares, he often felt better when his bed was warm, anyway.

* * *

It hadn't mattered much, the teen woke up with a gasp after having been stuck in a bout of what could have been sleep-paralysis. Though in his bad dream, he had turned into stone, unable to move, breathe, blink and it hurt _so_ much… And Pikachu had been there, crying out, trying to wake him up and the inability to comfort his starter pokémon hurt so much more.

"I am truly sorry, Ash," the voice from before spoke up.

He turned to see Mewtwo stand by the side of his bed, eyes dark and face stoic.

"… Was that you? Who turned me to stone?"

"I was raised by bad people. My manners were beaten into me, my mind skewed into believing what was being told instead of allowing me to come to my own conclusions. I was misguided and angry when we first met. You stood for everything I did not believe in, I knew for a fact pokémon would never enjoy being with a human… But you proved me wrong. Your sheer love and devotion for your pokémon changed my world, as well as the fact your feelings were reciprocated by _all_ of the pokémon there, including Mew. I will forever be mournful over the fact I nearly destroyed such a beautiful soul like yours."

"Was. It. You?" Ash asked, insisting.

"You jumped in-between the attack I launched towards Mew and the one Mew launched towards me. Neither of us knew what would happen if you were to get hit."

"Now you do."

"… Are you angry with me, child?" the pokémon asked.

"No. I'm confused why I'm seeing this right now. Why it's coming on as vivid as that? Was I even supposed to remember it? I sure didn't know about it before."

"Everyone deals with trauma in their own way. Some have therapy, others let themselves get eaten away by nightmares."

"… Are they nightmares? I… I just thought they were bad dream…" the boy uttered.

"You woke up with a gasp, your hands are still shaking and there are beads of sweat in your forehead. It was a nightmare, Ash."

"B-but… But I went through that. I went through all my bad dreams in real life. Does that mean I'm living a nightmare?" Ash whispered, though clearly panicking over his conclusion.

"The mind is a powerful tool. Perhaps it has grown used to some kind of 'bad' and makes the dream the slightest bit worse to bring you to a state of disarray. It does not mean your life is a nightmare."

The teen sniffed, upset still but nodded nonetheless. He trusted Mewtwo still, no matter if it had the ability to turn him to stone. The pokémon clearly felt sorry about it and-

"I apologise for ever doubting you, Ash," Mewtwo said, having picked up on his thoughts. "And hurting you. I should have been smarter by then, to know that not everything is as black and white as I was making it out to be."

The apology left him in tears and the boy couldn't help it. The legendary creature was left to awkwardly pat his shoulder in a poor attempt to console him, but Ash was quick to clarify he wasn't sad.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cry," he hiccupped. "T-there's not that many people who ever apologised to me, I think they forget about it or don't realise it bothers me or expect me to forget about it but then I don't and I- _Thank_ you, Mewtwo."

"Humans," the pokémon spat out with spite. "I would have given up on all of them if it was not for you, Ash. At any rate, allow me to show you a trick that might help you speak up."

"I don't usually… you know, call anyone out."

"And why is that?"

"I'm not that good at explaining myself. It's no good being told to be quiet or to have people laugh at everything you say."

"… Then I feel it is a good thing no words are needed for what I am about to teach you."

"Do you think we'll have enough time, though?" Ash asked, wiping away the few tears that had come running down his face, despite his best efforts to stop crying. "Mom's not going to like me doing stuff like that, so I don't want her to walk into anything."

Mewtwo said nothing but motioned towards the nightstand, where the Dialga figurine was standing again. More importantly, the small clock right next to it seemed to have stopped… Ash wasn't a fool, though felt a bit self-conscious because he had kissed it and he wasn't sure whether the pokémon had liked it.

"A-ah… It's real, isn't it?"

"Yes?"

"Didn't know it could like, shrink."

The pokémon looked at the small Dialga and shrugged.

"So what if it does?"

Ash laughed in response, shaking his head a bit at Mewtwo's lack of interest towards others. The boy wondered what was so special about him that made the creature stick around and share its intellect with him. But he knew better than to ask, there would be another speech about self-confidence ready for him and he wasn't in the mood to swallow such a bitter pill right now.

"The trick I wanted you to master is much like Scary Face, in the way that it creates an illusion of you being scarier than normal, in response to your feelings towards someone."

"… Do you think I can do that?" Ash asked. "I mean, I can turn off the light and float but-"

"The floating is due to Aura, many younglings do that when they feel unsafe. A perfectly natural aspect of your identity, do not worry about that. I would like you to know I would never ask you to do or perform something I feel you would not be able to or be uncomfortable with doing so."

"Alright, but how is floating supposed to make 'younglings' feel safe?" the teen asked with a frown.

"By elevating themselves, hunters cannot reach them. The dumb ones will get scared off and those looking for pray on the ground will not even spot them."

"Oh."

"Now, let us continue…"

* * *

The floating stones were back, his limbs cold and unresponsive. His starter pokémon was right there with him this time, though, as was the other, cream and orange coloured pokémon Ash remembered. It didn't matter, he felt the coldness spread over his body. The last thing he saw were the purple glowing signs in his field of vision, as well as Pikachu's look of absolute despair, but after that, nothing but darkness.

Ash sat up with a snort, an unfamiliar squeak waking him up from what he assumed was the short period he had been... well… 'dead' for. He grimaced at the memory he strongly suspected was the reason why this whole situation happened. The internet search had been clear, stopping your breathing was damaging to your body, especially your brain. Blacking out was the first sign that you were depriving yourself of air, your body's first line of defence to save energy and Ash remembered blacking out. Even if he hadn't, his nightmare would've reminded him of that fact.

"… Sweetie?"

He looked up and saw his mother and Lance at the side of his bed.

"When did you come in?" he asked.

"Just now, I… Sweetie, are you okay?"

"Why is everyone asking me that while I'm in a hospital?"

"Because you're crying, Ash," Lance answered, as Delia quickly fished out a handkerchief out of her bag.

"Again?!" the boy exclaimed, getting frustrated with himself.

"It's okay, sweetheart, it's okay," the woman said as she made quick work to wipe his tears away.

"Is it?"

"Who else asked you whether you were okay, Ash?" the man asked.

"Oh, Scott. He was here a while ago."

Though Ash wouldn't be able to tell them exactly how long ago, he hadn't checked when the Dialga had stopped time -he still wasn't over the fact how cool it was to have the actual Legendary pokémon right next to him, shrunken into a loveable size. With Mewtwo's rather lengthy training, until he had gotten the 'trick' down, Ash's perception of time had been properly screwed. It had also tired him out enough to cause him to have another nightmare as well.

"Whatever would that man come in here for?" Delia asked, giving Lance her famous side-ways glance, signalling she wasn't pleased about the news.

The boy shrugged and told her about how he had asked him about Brandon's appearance, but included exactly what he had told Scott because he was still aware that it hadn't _been_ Brandon at all. Lance had looked bothered by the explanation and Ash knew this could turn out to be a bad decision of Scott's, going behind this protective man's back to question a minor without their guardian present. Then again, there had been a nurse who had possibly guided him to this room, but Ash doubted she qualified for one.

"Next time someone comes in to question you, don't answer them and call for help," Lance said. "I don't care if they have a whole bag full of plush toys or candy with them, it's an illegal action and I'll be talking to Scott about it."

"If you had left him alone, I could have told you that it wasn't Brandon at all, you know?" Ash answered.

"… Is that so?"

"Yes, it was a concerned pokémon who took shape of someone… I don't know why they picked _him_ of all people, but here we are."

The man sighed loudly and looked away as if exasperated by the whole thing. Ash understood, knowing the champion must have other things to worry about than an apparition.

"Before I forget, mom, can you bring my transceiver next time? I wanna talk to my friends."

"Of course, I'll be sure to remember that. I euhm… do have to tell you that I was told that I'm not allowed to bring Pikachu in."

"… He's okay, though, isn't he? I-I mean, you're not keeping up pretence while he's actually dead and buried already and not wanting to tell me because you know I'll react badly to the news?"

"Sweetie! Good heavens, he's alive _and_ shocking everyone who doesn't look like you or me," Delia exclaimed.

"I can confirm that," Lance added quietly.

"I don't like how you came to that conclusion, I told dr. Martin that they're giving Pikachu's fur a special treatment so he'll be nice and fluffy for you to hold when you go back home. Adding professor Oak's statement to how the two of you are inseparable once you've gotten back together, the man told me it was of our best interest to keep you apart from each other. Taking Pikachu back home with us would hurt you, sweetie."

Ash pressed his lips to a thin line and tried his hardest not to bite down on his tongue too hard. He had so much to say about this, how it just _had_ to be professor Oak who voiced that opinion-

"Please, sweetie, speak up. I… Dr. Knight has told me about his diagnosis and I too am following therapy, it's why I'm a bit later in visiting you, but please, talk to me. I can't help you if I don't know how you feel about things," she all but begged as she took a hold of his hand.

He grimaced and looked down at his blanket, before releasing the hold on his lips and taking a deep breath.

"I hate how he always does this with me. He would never do this with Gary, it's always me who ends up as the butt of his stupid opinion. I… I've been sleeping so badly, I would do anything to have just a look at Pikachu, _anything_ and now I hear that both dr. Martin and dr. Knight have stopped answering my questions of when I can finally see him again because of him."

When the boy looked up, he saw a grim expression on both adult's faces. For a moment, Ash feared he had come on too strong, that they weren't as ready for his opinion as they had said just now but then his mother squeezed his hand a bit.

"If that's how you feel, I'm going to deny him any information about you as of now. I knew it didn't feel right he took over one of my parental rights, but he's done it so often, I thought it would be okay… But it's not, so I'll go talk to dr. Martin for a bit."

"I-I don't want you to get into trouble because of me, mom," the teen uttered, reaching out to her as if he could stop her.

But she had moved away already and was now giving him a questioning look.

"What would you suggest I do?"

"I… I don't know," he squeaked, dropping his hand back on his lap in defeat. "I don't know how to talk to him either, I mean, I talk to him but I don't know what to say so he thinks I'm just… an idiot? If he hears I told you to go low contact on him, he's going to accept it from you, but if I ever step foot in his laboratory, he'll find some stupid but subtle way to punish me."

"Such as?" Lance asked.

"He could ask for a physical of all my pokémon right before a tournament, rendering me without any as my status as a trainer would be suspended for the while he'll be doing physicals on them."

"That's oddly specific, Ash. Has this happened before?"

"Only a couple of times, I swear."

"When?"

"… At the start of my journey towards every region, I guess? He picked a couple of pokémon and keep them down for action for the duration of my journey. I… I tried calling in older, advanced pokémon to bring with me and use during tournaments, but he pulled that every time. Until I just gave up after last year and he hasn't asked for a physical yet either."

"That sounds illegal."

"Unfortunately, if you bring in an ill pokémon and fear contamination, it's not frowned upon when you want to check upon pokémon who came into contact with it… No matter if the contact was forced."

"That sounds even more dubious than before!" Lance all but growled. "Ash, is the man registered as next of kin or something? Do you know if he's registered in emergency contacts at all?"

"Of course, it's all over my trainer profile," the boy answered.

"That needs to stop."

"When I said something about that before, he said no one else would care about me and that it was a selfless act of his to register himself as an emergency contact."

"That nosy, old fool has been acting as if he is your parent while he can't even keep his own grandson in line," the man sighed. "And you've been pulled to a side you were never supposed to be pulled at, and that's what needs to stop."

"… Will that be okay?"

"I promise you, it will."

Despite the faith he had in both his mother's capabilities and his uncle's expertise, Ash didn't want to be too hopeful. Professor Oak must've meant well, some way or another, perhaps he had been at fault of something… but yeah, the teen knew his life would be different from now on. And it all depended on him whether it would be good different or bad different. Yet another responsibility he didn't want.

* * *

When the next morning came, the teen regretting _everything_ he had said to dr. Knight. Or rather, what he hadn't told the man. The whole night had been filled with all kinds of strange, lucid images of all the ways he had come close to death before -if he hadn't actually died at the time too. Was that what Mewtwo had meant when it had said that Aura users could only die once? That he shouldn't have been afraid of dying right now? Or were these hallucinations he was having? Ash didn't know but he couldn't think about it without his thoughts drifting off again, towards the nasty dreams that left him breathless and in despair once they had ended.

"… Ash?" a nurse asked, causing him to groan.

The sound of her voice seemed to echo in his head and it just sounded too loud for him. The woman didn't pry but the teen knew she would be going to get someone. He didn't know what to say, though, he had ensured he was okay when dr. Knight had asked him yesterday afternoon and yet… here he was, on the verge of crying again.

Little did Ash know that the therapist had realised something was amiss. If it hadn't been for the kind nurse who had told the man everything about the nightmare where the teen had grabbed her as hard as he could, he might not have noticed, but dr. Knight knew about the bad dreams, alright. The thing was, he needed to talk to dr. Martin about it and yesterday hadn't been a good day for the doctor, hence why he had barely come around Ash's room. But today, the man was dead set on getting things straightened out, though his main target was to get to a consensus on whether or not it was a good idea for the teen to receive visits from _his_ pokémon. Mrs. Ketchum's plea had reached him and the idea that someone was acting out towards the boy, even as he was hospitalized, made dr. Martin moody about this subject.

The man wasn't pleased when he saw the state of the teen after entering the room. Yesterday had been filled with trying to control the fever of a girl stuck in a Darkrai-caused state of nightmares and here the boy was, looking as if he was starting to suffer from that same fever. It wasn't possible the nightmare state was contagious, the other patients in the rooms adjacent were unaffected by it… but now that the doctor thought about it, the girl's room was directly above Ash and the boy _was_ sensitive in many ways.

"Darn it," he huffed as he whirled around to go and get a wheelchair to move the boy somewhere else.

He had noticed the child's lack of enthusiasm for many of the session that were meant to steer him away from depression, but what could you expect from a boy who was used to stay outside, completely free? He was stuck in one place now and gosh, the view out of that window was depressing even to the doctor who was.

"Hello?" the man asked, as he entered the room the nurses of this department tended to congregate in for coffee and where he could find a spare wheelchair. "Could anyone spare a moment of their time to help me?"

"Of course, doctor, what do you need us to do?"

"Could you possibly find a different room for the patient of room eleven?"

"That shouldn't be an issue, though it will be several floors down."

"I don't think that'll be a problem. Could you start moving the patient's things to that room?" the doctor asked. "I'm going to take him elsewhere in the meantime."

"Yes, doctor."

"Thank you," he said and wheeled a somewhat folded up wheelchair out of the room, determined to put the boy somewhere silent and calm, in hopes that he would have a good rest over there.

Heaven knew how the kid had picked up on those nightmares with an entire steel structure in-between him and the girl, but the man could only pray that whatever had possessed the child, wouldn't stick to him and move to the other room as well. Ash barely glanced at him as he got lifted inside the wheelchair and wheeled out of the room, a couple of nurses already present at the door to start moving the boy's belongings to another room. Dr. Martin was sure he would get the location of the room in time to move Ash back into it, but he was distracted by the boy falling asleep as soon as they had left the hallway. Not even the rough ride in the elevator had roused the teen.

'Unbelievable," the doctor thought, as he ended up moving the sleeping boy into his room.

That way, he would be able to keep an eye on him the entire time and be there if something happened. By the looks of it, though, Ash seemed to be dead to the world, not even reacting to the ringing of the phone on the desk. Dr. Martin had rarely spent such a peaceful time in his room, though, the teen's gentle snoring being the only sound inside the room. Perhaps he would have been better off not allowing the boy to play his heartstrings like this, but seeing a child like this always awakened something inside him. And it seemed like he wasn't the only one worrying about the teenager, as dr. Knight poked his head around the door to ask where Ash had gone.

"He's right here," the doctor answered.

"… Is he? Why?"

"I wanted him to sleep. The kid got affected by the illness of a patient in the room above his."

"You're kidding," the man deadpanned. "How?"

"Don't ask me, I'm already glad he's asleep."

"No nightmares?"

"None so far," dr. Martin answered. "Did you ask about them?"

"Not directly, but if you say it's not his ailment, I will be pressing the matter. I need him to understand he needs to talk about his feelings, that he can't let others decide for him," the therapist huffed.

"Don't work it out on him. Ash spoke up about his need to have Pikachu there and we both know who convinced us not to let that happened."

"We'll test it out ourselves, then, I suppose? I'm not against the idea, though we might as well open a window and allow some pokémon in, to see how he reacts to them and they to him. They've all moved in front of the room he's going to stay in now… though I sure hope he likes orange because that room isn't… well…"

"As long as he doesn't get someone else's nightmares, I believe any room will do right now. Is it finished, though? I would like to move him back into his room, I have a meeting in a few minutes."

"Oh, sure. I'll take him there if you'd like?" dr. Knight offered. "I had a session with Ash planned around this time, anyhow."

"He's dead to the world, though, but sure, go ahead."

The therapist nodded and took a firm hold onto the handles of the wheelchair. The teen still seemed deeply asleep, clutching the Mankey plush closely to his chest as a pillow was keeping his head away from the metal armrest. Ash didn't stir as he was moved into his new bed, either and for the next quarter of an hour, dr. Knight had been patiently waiting next to the boy's side, hoping he could catch the kid awake.

"Muh?" the teen uttered, as he sleepily turned to his side. "Wasser always a tree?"

"Yes," the man answered because there had indeed always been a tree in front of this room's window.

" _Really_? How didn't I see that?" Ash asked, sitting up already. "Waaait… Orange? This isn't… Was all of it a dream, after all?"

"The nightmares you refused to talk about, you mean?"

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I didn't think it was important because it all happened before and there's nothing I can do about it any longer, it's been months since the last-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on, Ash. What do you mean, it all happened before?"

"… It… My nightmares were parts of err… adventures I had."

"That caused you to cry out for help?" dr. Knight asked, frowning heavily.

"I was kinda drowning," Ash muttered. "At the time, in my dream, I mean, not when I grabbed the nurse."

"Will you tell me about them? Please?"

"… Only if you promise not to tell anyone."

"Of course not, I do have to make a file but-"

"No! No file. It always had something to do with pokémon and if someone finds out, they'll find them and it'll start all over again and I don't want to endanger them."

"Not even for the sake of your own health?"

"No," the teen answered stubbornly.

Dr. Knight sighed, rubbed his forehead but nodded eventually.

"Alright, I give you my word. I won't make a file on the contents of your nightmares… But _only_ when I've decided they've got nothing to do with your accident."

"That'll be easy. The most recent one happened months ago. It's where I thought I had the brain damage from, after all, you know I had that before the accident."

"… These stories aren't going to make me happy, are they?"

"I didn't tell you to pick this job. Besides, you asked."

"That I did," the man sighed. "Alright, let's begin from the beginning, then. What's the oldest of your nightmares?"

"Oh, that would be the one I got evaporated at."

"Come again?"

"Yeah, Ho-Oh wasn't happy at the time."

"… Good lord."

* * *

Lance was pleased to bits when he had finally gotten into contact with Red, who appeared to be more reasonable than ever about the matter. Granted, the champion realised his brother must have been thinking about the boy, who couldn't have been anyone else's son, considering Red had been all over Delia, all the time. But that the man had agreed to a paternity test was nothing short of a miracle and one of the best things that had happened since a good while. Not that Lance thought his brother was ready to be a father of a fourteen-year-old right away. Hardly even, as the man seemed under the impression his son was a toddler and upon having heard that Ash was much older than that, Red had sighed _deeply_.

But something needed to be done, he couldn't risk anyone taking over Ash's rights for the fund they had all carefully collected money for. It would ensure his future, some had even gone above and beyond and had ensured an appointment with a specialized designer from the best company in the entire world. The Phoenix company was special, recently added part of the pokémon company and Lance had been thoroughly impressed by their work, upon having been shown a portfolio of some of their creations. It was actually the reason why he had gotten to hear about Brandon having visited Ash, he had told Delia to warn the doctor that a stranger might come in to talk to Ash about a prosthetic limb. The doctor had told her he would anticipate the visit but had also told her about the stranger who had come to visit her son before and well… Lance still wanted to talk to Scott about his decision to go and bother Ash directly about it.

A knock on his door later proved that the man had already beat him to it, Scott was right there in the doorway, not smiling but not looking mad either. Good thing too, Lance's patience with him was wearing thin and anything that considered Ash was a sensitive subject to him as it was. He would never father a child himself, that much he had already come to the conclusion to, which made the boy even more special to him.

"Well, speaking about the devil," he stated. "Come in, Scott, I was just thinking about you."

"I'm not here to fight."

"Neither am I, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to remind you that you shouldn't visit teenagers with the intentions of interrogating them. Not without a legal guardian."

"Like you?"

"No, like his mother."

"Oh, that'll be alright."

Lance chuckled, Delia's expression had been nothing if not murderous at discovering that yet another person had gone behind her back and had upset her son. Chances were that the conversation wouldn't be anywhere near as alright as Scott thought it would be.

"What brought you here?"

"I wanted to talk about the kid's abilities," Scott said.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Ash asked for a teacher, so there's that to consider."

"I'm not considering anything, again, you'll have to take it up to his mother to get any sort of agreement for your nefarious plans."

"Nefarious?" the man repeated, sounding indignant as he placed his hands on his sides. "What are you trying to imply?"

"I can only expect trouble if one of your lot is going to teach him psychic tricks."

" _Hah_ , is that so? Well, _my_ lot isn't going to teach him anything psychic, Brandon's going to be his teacher for Aura, if that's alright for Delia."

"… Aura?" Lance repeated dryly.

"Yes, I was surprised as well but pleased nonetheless. I feel like we could do a better job at training him in secrecy to avoid him going through the same events his father did."

"Here, here," the champion muttered. "You go ahead and focus on that, then, I've got other things on my mind. Though I warn you, next time I catch my nephew crying after your visit, we _will_ have some sort of fight."

"He was crying before I even came in! The kid's obviously been hit one time too many, Lance, that nightmare wasn't normal either!"

"Whatever, man, you heard me. I don't care what you do, as long as you don't hurt him, it's fine."

"… I'm sure it is. You're good at burning bridges, aren't you?"

"We never were on good terms after what happened before I went to Orre, tell me what bridge there was left to burn?" Lance bristles angrily.

Scott guiltily turned away from the man, but the champion wasn't having any of it.

"I'm glad you're so full of concern for my nephew while you didn't give a damn if I ever came back from Orre, but don't think I'll ever forget what happened. Ash is going to be the only thing we'll have in common and you'll just have to live with the fact you're going to have to talk to the boy's legal guardians to accept your plans. I'll only be watching in case the kid gets hurt," Lance stated, continuing after a small pause. "Arceus knows what you were thinking, coming here."

"I'll just go, then…"

The man stared holes in the back of Scott's retreating back, huffing after the door was gently closed. A muscle near Lance's eye twitched in annoyance and oh, he might not be Ash's legal guardian, but he would be second in command. As Red's brother, he did have somewhat of a say over the boy and while he wanted nothing more than to give the child his well-deserved freedom, he _would_ steer him away from trouble if he saw Ash walk straight towards it. Besides, Red was still highly dependent on his suggestions, because he was still more than a bit world-estranged. Scott should mind to better treat the boy right or something bad was going to happen, that much the champion was convinced of.

* * *

His coach, Brandon, seemed even more pleased to have the teen closer to the training area, meaning he didn't have to hoist his machinery up the stairs. Yes, he was that kind of person to refuse stepping into the elevator, which exasperated Ash a bit. Nevertheless, it was becoming easier to climb on and off these training devices and the boy was pleased he could stand with the aid of two crutches by the end of his second session. In fact, he had walked back to his own room without any human help, which had ended up getting him a small round of applause from the three nurses in the hallway. The boy had bashfully ducked his head under the attention, his cheeks getting a bit redder at the show of appreciation.

"You're better at this than I am," Brandon chuckled, barely refraining from giving a pat on the teen's shoulder.

The man had almost connected with Ash's shoulder, though, but had pulled back at the last second and had awkwardly made a vague gesture before keeping his hands to himself. The boy was thankful for it, the impact would've probably knocked him over and destroy what little confidence he had. Oh yes, he was standing, but he wasn't standing _sturdy_. His arms were killing him and he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief once he sat back on the bed.

"That was harder than I thought," he admitted sheepishly, as he stretched his arms out in front of him. "Ah, I'm going to be sore tomorrow."

"Highly likely, that was a lot of muscle power you used today. I'm pleased, though, you didn't lose that much muscle, after all. This just made your revalidation program easier, Ash, if you can keep this up, you'll be ready to start learning to walk with a prosthetic limb in no time," the coach said, trying to motivate the boy.

"… I don't know if I will ever get one, though. Mom won't ever be able to afford one, I think," he answered sadly.

"Then why did that nice lady from before say she was here to design one for you?" the man asked, turning towards the group of nurses who seemed as mystified about it as he was.

_ "Das war wirklich beeindruckend." _

Ash perked up at the voice which was definitely speaking Unova's official language. He regretted never having taken the time to pick it up but he _had_ understood what the woman in the doorway had said just now nonetheless.

"Thanks!" he piped up, ignoring Brandon's silent muttering of 'you understood that?'

"Miss, visitor hours haven't started yet." One of the nurses spoke up.

"I'm not a visitor. I am the nice lady who told dr. Martin that I would be coming here to speak to Ash and make measurements for the prosthetic limb I will be designing," the woman answered, her thick accent making her statement sound sterner than she possibly intended.

She definitely had Ash's interest now, because accent or not, he understood and he was as enthusiastic about that as the mention of a possible limb for him.

"Really?" he asked, smiling widely.

"Yes. Let me introduce myself, I'm Eleanor from the Phoenix Company."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ash."

"I know, I was told about your case by the doctor. I was intrigued from the start, we have very little trainers as profiled prosthetic limb users and it will be interesting to work on one that fits all your needs."

Ash was a bit taken aback by the crudeness, but he somewhat liked the no-nonsense approach. Even though it felt weird because it was rare for him to be called out by characteristics instead of personality.

"Oh, alright."

"Can I make measurements or do you need anaesthetics before I can touch it?"

"Err, no, it's okay, you can touch it," he said, though wasn't looking forward to those 'measurements'.

Touching the remained of his left leg, especially the end of it, was still a bit of a sensitive subject to him, a private thing. But she was here to help and Ash refused to let his weakness stand in the way of his freedom. So he steeled himself and after the designer had asked for some privacy, which caused the nurses and Brandon to excuse themselves from the room, bared his leg and left the woman at it.

"… Interesting. Are you aware of the way the stump was closed?"

"Yes, it wasn't," he answered. "There wasn't any skin left to stitch it up and I don't think they thought I was even going to make it, so I think they just… managed. I err… It wasn't the doctors or me who healed it, anyway."

"Most unusual."

"Is it possible? For me to even wear one with that kind of…?" the boy asked, trailing off.

"I cannot say, I know it will be difficult," Eleanor answered calmly. "But I'm very good at what I do."

Ash smiled in response to the confidence.

"Now, I will need your guidance on what is comfortable and whatnot, yes? Please be honest, if it hurts, it's a no-go, it needs to be _ vollkommen richtig _ before anything, if my measurements are not correct, you will be in pain whenever you wear the limb. Understood?"

____

"… Yes, ma'am."

__

It didn't help he occasionally yelped at her strange actions, but he kept telling himself she meant well and that she was here to help him. Just like the pillows the nurses in the silent ward had tried to comfort him with, this person was here to give him back the leg those strange, mean creatures had stolen. After a series of strangely shaped cups having gotten fit on his stump, a particular one somehow felt… right. Not right as in natural but for the first time, the boy didn't feel any particular prod or bump.

__

"This is it, isn't it?" the woman asked, smiling.

__

"I think so, yes."

__

"Good. Very good. I will leave it here, I would like dr. Martin to check if it still fits tomorrow and the following days after. Perhaps your leg has swollen a bit, due to my measuring and I am unwilling to start working on the wrong basis."

__

"So… Morning and evening? Each day?"

__

"And perhaps after those muscle revalidation lessons of yours."

__

"Can't I just keep it on, then?"

__

"I wouldn't recommend it, you would want your leg to remain open in the night. Skin trapped underneath something will cause unpleasant side-effects, if not injuries. Only burns can be covered in plastic all night, but the concern of skin-damage is little when dealing with those kinds of treatments," she answered. "Now, perhaps you have a particular shape or colour in mind you would like your leg to look like?"

__

"… I like Pikachu?" he answered, coming up empty on what else to pick.

__

And Ash did _very_ much like Pikachu.

__

"Ah, lightning bolt, hm? Interesting idea, I could incorporate that, though it will be hard to… hm, I will have a think about it. Anything else?"

__

"Err… Not too heavy? I don't want any of my pokémon to hurt themselves if they move about in my room at night. But nothing too flimsy, I'm kind of bouncy."

__

"Mm-hm. Noted. I will send a copy of the design once I get the confirmation from dr. Martin that the cup is the right size for you. Though, keep in mind, you are young, you might need adjustments."

__

"Isn't that going to be expensive?" the teen winced. "How much is this one gonna cost?"

__

"The costs have been taken care of. You should ask your parents, they have taken care of it."

__

Ash was confused about that, there was no way his mom would've ever been able to keep this a secret. Besides, where the heck would she be getting the money from? Had she been selling her baked goods like, all over the world? Or had she stocked up every family in Pallet, ensuring them they would have food for the coming year? Ash didn't understand but you bet he would ask her next time he saw her.

__

"I've finished what I came in here for. So unless you have another question, I will take my leave."

__

"I don't think so. I think I'll have more questions when I'm wearing it, though."

__

"If that is the case, I will be right there to answer them," she said. "Take care now and most of all, keep up the good work. I have rarely seen people adapt as quickly as you have. The stronger you are, the better."

__

"Thank you, Eleanor, I will do my best."

__

* * *

__

Waking up in the room had instantly reminded him he had moved, because well, the orange was obvious. But if that one wall weren't as vibrant in colour, the stark lack of nightmares might have made him aware something had changed. And call him strange, but Ash felt more at ease than he had ever been in those two days in that previous room. He didn't know why, Mewtwo hadn't responded strangely towards being there and with the creature being a highly-talented Psychic-type pokémon, the teen figured it would have noticed something. Then again, did any legendary pokémon care about their surroundings at all? Chances were Mewtwo hadn't even thought twice about feeling bad in a human-infested area, possibly feeling that way by default.

__

All in all, Ash was bewildered and confused about how he had woken up to find himself in a different room and without nightmares, but at the same time, glad that this period was over and done with. He liked to look back on his adventures, feeling proud of himself. That his mind had felt the necessity to show him that the good he had done, had made such a bad impact on him, kind of rained on his parade but he wouldn't allow it. No matter the tragic expression on dr. Knight's face, upon hearing his toes of 'woe', the boy couldn't make his heart feel regret when he truly believed he had made things right. It was all just part of his life and judging from how other people behaved, the teen was almost certain there were people who had suffered worse. 'There are worse things than death' had existed as a saying long before he had been born, after all.

__

His biggest concern right now was the fact that the promised muscle cramps weren't that bad at all and that Ash felt like walking around again. Specifically towards the window, as there were lots of small pokémon who had started congregating amongst the branches of the tree. The boy longed to have some sort of interaction with them, even if he couldn't open the window, it would still be nice to like… smile at them, to show he enjoyed their presence. It was a shame his crutches were standing against the complete opposite wall the room and thus, out of his reach.

__

Ash sulked, shoulders dropping as he cast a longing look towards the window. The tree seemed almost alive, the way it was shaking and moving about, filled to the brim with pokémon… and here he was, sitting like a dead weight. The boy sat like that for at least an hour, knowing he was usually left alone until a bit before ten in the morning. It was only eight right now and his revalidation coach had said they were skipping a day, as he didn't want him to overdo his training, so there were no activities planned. Well, not counting Ash's desired walk around the room, that is. So now, he was thinking about his 'abilities' which only seemed to get him into trouble and didn't seem useful at all, except making himself sick.

__

There was no way he would ever be able to move this bed, it was attached through a mess of wires and it was clear this particular piece of furniture wasn't meant to be moved around like the one at the silent ward. This one had a better pillow, but the boy could understand that there weren't many patients who would complain about it, laying in the silent ward and being unconscious and all that. Still, he was bothered and it made him prone to risky behaviour, as he was still eyeing the crutches. In a clear moment, Ash had considered floating towards it, but the thing was, by the time he could even get himself to float, he wasn't just at risk of being seen, he was also aware that floating didn't necessarily mean moving about. In fact, the boy would consider this as hovering, instead of floating, as he could only go upwards.

__

As much as that resembled his ideology, it still bothered the teen because it was just another ability that wasn't of much use to him. But then he figured that if he could close a door, he might be able to pull it open as well. The bathroom door certainly reacted to the pull, so naturally, Ash focused on the crutches only a second after he had successfully opened that door. He never even thought about closing it, dead set on pulling the crutches closer. The first thing they did was to clatter on the floor with as much noise as possible but it seemed like no one was around and after a tense five minutes of Ash expecting a nurse to burst into the room, he feverishly moved on to get the railing around his bed to lower, so that he could get to the crutches once they were close enough.

__

Needless to say that, once the boy stood once more, he smiled victoriously. As much as he enjoyed his newfound freedom, the boy made sure to act carefully. But oh, the joy on the little pokémon's faces as he was able to come closer! They behaved so cutely and he could lean against the window so he didn't need to rely on the crutches the whole time, so the teen stood there quite some time, contently watching them. The Meowth pushing its head against the glass as if wanting to be petting was so adorable and a sleek looking Furret acted similarly only a moment later. They almost succeeded in making the boy forget he was inside a hospital. Almost. As the sound of his door opening, followed by a loud 'thud' made him aware someone had entered the room.

__

"Oh no…" he uttered, as he stared at a bewildered-looking doctor, who was furiously rubbing his forehead.

__

"What are you…? Did you need to go to the toilet?" the man asked, as he took a hold of the bathroom door, cautiously peeking inside before turning back towards the teen.

__

"I euhm… got distracted," Ash answered.

__

"Understandable, but still, don't leave this door open, will you? It's a hazard for anyone coming in. What if I had been the nurse coming in with a bunch of pills?"

__

The teen didn't mean to smile at that, but the thought of a nurse going down in a shower of pills -not that he needed to take that many any longer- seemed hilarious to him.

__

"Oh, I see how it is now. Cheeky Mankey, you are," the doctor grumbled, before looking up as if he just realised the teen was out of bed and standing on his own. "What are you even doing out of bed?! You're supposed to call a nurse for assistance!"

__

"I was bored."

__

"… Bored," dr. Martin repeated. "Goodness, Ash, you're a menace to yourself. Come on, back in bed."

__

The teen let himself get ushered back into his bed, though made sure the man could see he wasn't happy about it.

__

"Really, boy, you were such a mess yesterday and yet you still make it all the way up there. What if you had fallen?"

__

"I didn't."

__

"Perhaps not, but _still_. I don't like you taking these risks, at least call a nurse if you want to talk a walk. Perhaps she'll take you out into the garden, then you can walk all you want and get sniffed from all sides. I don't fear you hurting yourself with all that grass out there, but these are some unforgiving tiles to fall on, Ash."

__

"I get it, doctor, I'll call for help next time."

__

"Alright. I do hope you fully understand why I'm so persistent."

__

He didn't, not truly, but he respected the man's wishes all the same. Even though it would be a hassle to sit out that ride in a wheelchair towards the garden, getting stared at by people and patients alike.

__

"Now, have you had any trouble with nightmares?"

__

"No, I slept well."

__

"Good, good…" the doctor muttered thoughtfully, grabbing a notebook out of his pocket and making some notes before turning back to him. "I would like you to be aware that you are susceptible to the ailments of people in your neighbourhood, Ash."

__

"… What do you mean?"

__

"The patient in the room above you was suffering from the same nightmares as you were, but long before you."

__

"S-so when I was moved into that room…?"

__

"Yes, you picked up on it and started suffering from the same illness."

__

"Oh _God_ , are they okay?" Ash asked.

__

"Funnily enough, shortly after you were moved, a Cresselia seemed to have made its way through the window and left a feather, rousing the patient from her deep sleep."

__

"Ah."

__

"Ah, indeed," dr. Martin said, in a way that told Ash the man was aware that the legendary pokémon's appearance had everything to do with him.

__

Which was likely the case, somehow everyone knew he was suffering while the boy himself was oblivious about it. Nevertheless, he liked the idea this kid had been saved thanks to his weakness to stuff, it was something he could possibly exploit in the future.

__

"I do hope you won't start showing symptoms of the illnesses of the patients around you this time, but for the love of Arceus, tell me if you're feeling something."

__

"… Determination to walk again?"

__

"I know you're fired up, Eleanor told us as much. I admire you for it, Ash, but you know that's not what I meant."

__

"I get it, I'll tell you, dr. Martin. And if there's something I don't understand, I'll wait until I get a chance to ask you, I promise."

__

The doctor nodded and left the subject alone. It seemed like he was interested in the state of his body this time around, taking his temperature and seeing whether he had cramps or any other complaints. Ash came up empty, the only complaint he had was boredom as an orange wall was only entertaining for a little while. Soon enough, the person with the games came back in which took his mind off matters for a while.

__

Now if only his mom would remember to bring his transceiver, he would be set for some interesting moments to come.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German translation:  
> Das war wirklich beeindruckend = That was really impressive  
> Vollkommen richtig = Completely right


	5. Life is Full of Ups And Downs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, I'm back, with another chapter. Not much to report, my worries must've all melted away in this heat! Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy reading this one!

Forget his expectations, today was shaping up to be a string of anti-climactic events that made little sense to the teen. Instead of his mother and his transceiver, he got his mother and another smiling nurse, along with the announcement that they were going to do the test to determine whether or not he was Red's son. Don't get him wrong, Ash would be pleased to hear he wasn't born from a cabbage, but he had other expectations. Especially the test, he had been subjected to so many of them, how he wasn't leaking from his skin already with all the needles they had been poking at him. And the last test had involved a terribly big and loud machine… so to think that a test this important consisted out of rubbing the inside of your cheek with a cotton swab?

"That it?" the boy asked, handing the thing back to the nurse.

"Why yes," she answered, plopping the 'contaminated' object inside a little, protective case. "We do try and keep it as efficient and quick as possible. Also, this test can be done on small children rather easily, hence why we tend to stick to doing it this way."

"Oh," was all he could say to that.

"Right, I'll be off then. We'll get the test results in a couple of days, so look forward to it, yes?"

Ash smiled at that, but the expression faded from his face as soon as the nurse left the room.

"Did _you_ have to do that test?" he asked his mom, who smiled warmly at him.

"I have no doubts that you are my child, sweetie."

"Oh," he said again, coming up empty on what else to say.

There wasn't much happening around him, except for his own weirdness. Even Brandon had been strangely absent today, despite Ash's previous worries there might have been repercussions for his actions yesterday. But no, nothing had happened and thanks to his mother forgetting all about the transceiver, the teen didn't expect much else to happen.

"I'm sorry, I was just so busy with the parental test, oh, it's going to be amazing, sweetie," Delia said, eyes all dreamy. "I've spoken to Red, I mean, he's still a man of few words, but his intentions are clear. He's going to live with us if proven you are his son and you'll finally have a daddy, sweetheart. Won't that be amazing?"

The boy blinked and nodded slowly. The reaction seemed to upset his mother but he was kind of neutral to the idea.

"You've not given up on him, have you?" she asked. "I mean, he's got his issues still, but he's working on them, just like you are and-"

"I'm not doing much at the moment, to be honest. And I don't know how it feels to have a dad, I hear the few friends of mine who still have their dads around complain about him too but then again, they clearly love him too so I don't know what expect, mom. Also, you've never told me what his issues were, I don't know who he is, what he does, he's a stranger to me. I don't know what to tell you, but I do care if that's what you want to know?"

His mother sighed at his reaction and now Ash felt bad about having voiced his opinion.

"Look, you love him, I know you're all excited."

"Just give him a chance, Ash. Please."

"Of course, I'm like, the only thing all my friends have in common. And I know I'm not good with explaining myself but I'm good with the words I know. He's just gonna have to deal with that too. Bet he'll even understand if he can only talk for a couple of seconds at the time."

"I didn't say that!" Delia hissed, instantly upset.

"Mom, you've not said anything, you're letting me guess and then get upset because I guessed it wrong. If you don't want me hurting your feelings, tell me what to expect before I'm faced with it."

"Ask dr. Knight what PTSD does with a person."

"I kind of know what it does, I've got the jumpy thing-"

"The _worst_ kinds of symptoms," the woman interrupted. "Not the mild ones."

"… Alright."

Ash pointedly decided not to press his mother for any kind of information right now, or in the near future. She nearly stomped out of the room, all because of something he said.

'Her classes aren't helping too much with that,' the boy thought dryly, almost happy he was back on his own.

He didn't like how everyone was telling him to be mindful of the man who apparently had similar issues like him. Worse, apparently, but since when did anyone take any of _his_ ailments seriously, hm? Delia had taken greater offence in his lack of excitement than he had thought, as dr. Knight came in a couple of minutes later.

"So… This dad of yours… I suppose you have questions?"

"Yeah, why is it okay for people to warn me for my own father? And then be annoyed I'm not excited to see him?"

The therapist looked at him all confused, before bursting into laughter. Ash could only look as the man tried to regain his composure.

"Oh, how she got it all wrong again," he chuckled. "I should have known."

"What did she tell you?"

"All I can tell you is that talking to her is starting to feel like entering the twilight zone," the therapist chuckled.

"And that's supposed to make me smile, knowing my mother's losing it?"

"You can't lose what you've never had, Ash. Your mother still doesn't have a clue on how to raise you properly. She's a mom, yes, but she's not supportive and not motherly. The reactions she has to you, are similar to what any person has when faced with something cute or something they love."

"… I know she loves me," Ash said. "She's told me that."

"Of course, she does. But you can grow to love someone during situational acceptance."

"Is having my dad back in the game gonna help?"

"I think so, if only for the fact your father had therapy for nearly a decade now and certainly knows how to be a decent father. He's ready for you, that much I can see and honestly, I see him ready to stand up for what he believes his right. It'll be good for your mother to have someone with a spine near her. Other than you, of course."

"That's gonna be fireworks. Mom's never taken kindly to anyone telling her how to raise me."

"Except professor Oak, that is," dr. Knight stated.

"He was there when no one else was. You can't blame my mom for letting him in, he supposedly was the wisest person in Pallet and she couldn't have known he would start being so… two-faced."

"True."

"How do I know Red's not gonna hate me on sight either, though?"

"I'll beat him up with my two own hands," the therapist answered, causing the teen to stare at him. "What? You're a good kid, Ash."

"… Thanks."

"Is that what's troubling you the most, though? The fear that Red will reject you the moment he lays eyes on you?"

"It happened before. Not with him, but it happened." Ash answered yet shrugged. "I don't care if he doesn't like me, he's married to mom, not me. I guess I can live with him if he's a bit tolerant for me too. It's just… no one gets into trouble for doing things to me, not like I get in trouble for doing things."

"Ah," the man said. "You know you're allowed to send your pokémon at him, don't you?"

Ash gave the therapist a look of disbelief.

"Yeah, look at me like that, but when you leave this hospital, it'll be with a disability card and advantages, as well as a pokémon who'll always need to remain by your side. This is called a Pokéhelp and by god, as soon as Red raises his voice at you, beyond what is necessary for a conversation, the pokémon can fire off any attack at him. And they'll be excused for it, that's what a Pokéhelp is for."

"I don't think the world is ready to give Pikachu the right to fire an attack at everything that annoys him."

"That's the world's issue," dr. Knight answered simply. "Funny how you didn't hesitate to pick a pokémon as Pokéhelp."

"You have no idea what I would do to get Pikachu right here with me now," Ash said, looking down at his hands. "I know it's not up for debate, that Red probably needs to step up as my actual guardian before anything gets decided, but I miss him _so_ badly."

His voice cracked at the end of his sentence but even without that, the man could tell the boy was suffering.

"I'm sorry, Ash. I can't help you get Pikachu here. Is there anything else I could help you with, though? I know it'll be hard to find a substitute for something as important as your pokémon but…"

"Yes!" the teen said, perking up.

The therapist was taken aback, but nodded nonetheless.

"Mom's completely forgotten about my transceiver, I want to talk to my friends as well. Are there videophones downstairs? Could we go to them?"

"I… don't think that's a good idea, Ash. There's always a lot of people downstairs and I'm not sure whether I'm allowed to let you make calls during my sessions."

" _Please_? I… It's been two weeks already since my accident happened, I can't delay it any further and expect them to just forgive me for forgetting to tell them about this! If it wasn't as serious, I could've just waited, but I can't spring this on them. Not with the leg thing, they… They're gonna be upset, doctor, all of my friends think I'm as good as invincible. If they found out something happened to me, they're gonna be upset. To hear that I didn't think about them during a time like this, as if I didn't care about contacting them, to tell them about this, i-it's not gonna go down well."

The man stared at the teen and gently took hold of his hand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think it would mean this much to you. Thank you for telling me this, Ash, I'll go and find a wheelchair."

" _Thank you_!"

"However, I'm only going to allow you to call one friend per day. And you can tell your friends that I told you to do that if they complain, okay?"

"Okay."

While it did seem like Ash would willingly jump through a hoop on fire over this and would pretty much agree to anything, this deal was a small victory for the therapist. He hadn't just gotten the teen to open up about his emotions, he had shown that there was a positive effect, a prize for doing so afterwards. So dr. Knight went to fetch a wheelchair and wheeled him all the way to the main lobby. They did pass dr. Martin, who had given the therapist a strange look, but their main goal was the videophone and Ash's mind was solely focused on it.

However, today wouldn't be today if it deviated from the dull uselessness stated before, as the boy quickly dialled in Misty's number, the one living the closest to Celadon and thus, could pop in for a quick visit if she wanted to… only for the girl's voicemail to tell him that, due to Gym hours, she wouldn't be able to receive any calls and that they could leave a message and that she would call them back as soon as possible. Ash didn't bother and ended the call right then and there.

"Why didn't you leave a message?" the therapist asked.

"And let her call back the hospital?"

"… At least you could've told her that it was you and that you were in the hospital."

"Gym hours close an hour after visitor hours, doctor. That still gives her half a day to be worried sick over this, no matter how much explanation I would've given." The boy answered, looking dejected. "It wouldn't have been a problem if I had my transceiver, I could've… ah, it's no good."

"Maybe tomorrow will be better, hm?"

"Not sure. Most of my friends are gonna be pretty busy around this time. I ought to be real lucky to get a hold of them at this hour too."

"You don't know that."

"I wouldn't have answered the phone either, though. Not at this time a day."

The teen's enthusiasm over the subject seemed to have shrivelled away completely, leaving the child looking a bit tired and bored. It bothered the therapist, who felt like his reward for the kid's honesty had gotten negated by the bad luck. Ash probably didn't feel like this had been a good thing now, speaking up at all and curses, the kid's mother hadn't reacted properly to her son's opinion either, she had just left, clearly showing she didn't care at all unless his opinion agreed with hers. How was Ash supposed to learn to speak up when it counted, huh?

That is emotional neglect to its finest and he wouldn't stand by and watch this shit show go down and drag this child down along with it. He hadn't been lying, Ash was a good kid and it would be a downright shame to see how adults ruined a boy like that. Nevertheless, as a therapist, he had limits and there was only so much he could do, especially when everyone else around Ash was incompetent when it came to dealing with children.

* * *

The boy sat listlessly in the hospital bed. Waiting for visitors. Or anything that would make this day stand out from all the others, for that matter. Every day looked the same and he was finding it hard to keep smiling. There was little to motivate him to do anything, not even the pokémon at the window and in the tree. He watched them, yes, but Ash no longer moved out of the bed. He couldn't get to them, he wasn't strong enough to open any of the windows with just one arm. He couldn't use both, he had to mind the crutches and well… It got old, seeing the hopeful looking pokémon in the window. The teen didn't even know why they were here, following him so adamantly.

Not just that, their behaviour was keeping the nurses from allowing him a trip through the garden. Some of them apparently had troubles getting to their cars, taking brooms with them to shoo the pokémon from around and underneath their vehicles. They didn't blame him, bless their kind hearts, but Ash was bothered nonetheless. He knew something special happened to him, but he didn't have the chance to figure out what exactly had changed about him… if anything changed at all. His typical kind of luck had left him, though, finding himself stopped at every turn to reconnect with any of his friends.

Dr. Knight had been reluctant to lead him back to the videophone, having spotted his disappointment the first time he had endeavoured to contact one of his friends, which ended up in the man deciding to do other 'fun' activities. Ash had completely failed to describe himself in a positive manner, though, mostly because he was distraught, trying to recall another number from a friend that might pick up the phone and not leave him hanging on voicemail. The therapist had looked miserable, mimicking how Ash felt inside, after learning he could only tell the man who he was by parroting the things others had said about him and well… they weren't positive. He was dense, hard-headed, overly enthusiastic, hard to handle, hard to understand- Dr. Knight had stopped him, telling him to think about his answers a little longer.

Today marked the fourth day he failed to say something nice about himself, other than stating he was 'kind'. Dr Knight had nodded solemnly, writing it down and moving on to another subject. Another sensitive one, namely his father. The therapist seemed determined to get to the tax of brass on the matter but Ash was in no mood to talk about the thing that had driven a wedge between him and his mother. Today was also the third day his mother had failed to visit him, apparently too busy to come by and attempt a reconciliation. Or was she waiting for dr. Knight's confirmation he was 'alright'?

"How about giving my father a chance to make his own impression on me?!" Ash had snapped, losing his patience with the man.

"Of course, but I want to make sure you're ready-"

"To explode?!"

The man had looked taken aback.

"I can already tell you're not ready by that kind of attitude. What's gotten into you?"

"Leave me alone! Just like everyone else is doing! Seems to be the best for everyone, yeah?"

"I'm not allowed to do that."

"Then go suck an egg, for all I care," the teen had huffed and yeah, he regretted saying that to dr. Knight, knowing the man only meant well.

But yeah, he was alone now, just like he had wished he was. Ash was in no mood to be left alone, though, feeling like doing something stupid, just to get some attention. He stopped himself by clutching his Mankey plush close to his chest and let the disappointment in himself wash over him. Why was everyone forgetting about him? Like, it was normal for his mother to be obsessed with Red, he was her husband, she still loved him dearly, Ash knew about that but it made little sense why everyone else was going on and on about the man. Yes, he was also aware that his lack of enthusiasm about the matter hurt his mother's feelings if only she knew he wasn't enthusiastic about anything right now. Especially not since what little loving care he was receiving from his mother, had been pulled away from him due to his father's reappearance.

Perhaps it was childish, but Ash didn't think it was fair that the man who had cast them away like trash, could twirl his finger and have everything back on track, as if nothing had happened. Perhaps Red had never meant for this to happen, perhaps the man was as innocent as Ash was… but the situation gave him a bad taste in his mouth and now the teen wasn't looking forward to meeting the man, but burning with curiosity nonetheless. You could say he was thorn about the matter, which possibly made the situation worse for him.

He was still curled up in his bed when the door of his room opened and with his days all looking the same, with pretty much the same things happening throughout, Ash had expected it to be a nurse and get away with ignoring them. They usually left him at it when he had his back turned to the door, whilst laying down in the bed, probably figuring he was asleep or something… but this seemed a persistent one.

"Ash?"

'Oh, hell, this isn't a nurse at all,' the teen thought, cringing when he heard Lance's voice.

Was he here to berate him about not 'accepting' Red either? Despite Ash not having seen the man?

"… Ash? Are you asleep?"

Part of him wanted to keep the Champion out of this, he didn't need another person leaving him. And he also didn't want to spoil the image he had in mind, that the man was always so just and oh, what would he do with himself when it was proven there was no one who… cared enough? The idea brought tears to his eyes and caused him to curl up against the plush. Ash didn't know why he did it, but it apparently gave Lance some feelings.

"O-oh, Ash, what are you…? Are you crying?"

"I'm sorry," the teen hiccupped, his voice sounding muffled due to the Mankey plush pressed against his face.

"Come on now, come here," the man said and Ash got a strange sensation right then.

He never had a father's care before, he didn't know what it felt like… yet why did it feel like that was exactly what he was feeling right now? It didn't help that Lance picked him up and held him close. Ash must've given him a strange look, before settling down, because he wasn't used to being handled this way. He quickly decided it didn't feel bad, though and calmed down when he figured Lance could hardly leave the hospital with him still in his arms.

"You okay now?"

"I'm sorry," Ash sighed. "I don't know what happened… I…"

"Oh, I can guess what's happening, Ash," Lance said, pulling him a little closer into the hug -the boy was pretty much just sitting on his lap. "You're coped up inside, while you've spend most of your time outside."

"I was fine the first few weeks I was here. Seeing the pokémon through the window was enough."

"Then, what do you think changed?"

The teen bit his lip, he didn't want this conversation to be about Red again. Yet, the man was being so kind to him, he felt like he owed Lance the truth.

"I'm causing troubles by not being so happy about things. Like my euhm… dad."

"Like I said to Delia, she needs to stop overthinking the situation and leave Red and you at it. And as far as I know, no one but me and your mom can hear what you say in here, and I know I've not repeated any of it outside. So, basically, the one causing the troubles is your mom, nothing would've happened if she kept her mouth shut. But no, she loves drama as much as professor Oak does and if there's nothing happening around her, she will damn well cause some if she wants to."

Ash looked at the man in wonder.

"… I might have gotten into a little fight with your mom, Ash," Lance admitted.

"Thanks for telling me."

"You're not mad at me? I might have made things worse."

"She's not coming by anyhow, don't see how much worse it could get."

"Goddammit," the man hissed. "Right, well… She's even dumber than I thought, then. Good to know."

"Mom's not that bad."

"I didn't say that, you don't have to be bad to just be dumb. And she's being dumb about a lot of things, if she's not careful, Red won't be coming to Pallet at all, you know?"

"Oh."

"He might come to get you, though."

"Why?" Ash asked. "He doesn't know me."

"I didn't know you either. I probably still don't, but look at us now, huh?"

The teen nodded, yet made no move to shift from his comfortable position. Who would've known Lance would go to such lengths to calm him down, like, if the paparazzi found out about this one...

"Anyway, let's not talk about her. I've had enough for a good while already and besides, I came here to see you and make sure you're fine."

Ash didn't think he was fine, not really. He just nodded because he appreciated the man's effort to come and see him and that he could look beyond his mother's obsession induced stubbornness.

"Thank you, Lance."

"You're welcome. Anything I can do to make your time a bit better?"

"I don't suppose you can break into the house to get my transceiver?" he asked, wincing at the mere idea of asking an officer to break the law for him.

"I like how you straight up assumed I would go to the lengths of breaking into your house to avoid your mother, but no, I'm sorry, I'm not risking that," Lance chuckled. "Why?"

"I don't think anyone but you is thinking about me right now and I kind of wanted to see my friends, despite them not… Well, giving a damn?"

"The news did come out late and the article was vague enough for someone to just skim over it," the man said.

"Don't I know that?"

"I'll see what I can do for you, though, you just need the transceiver, yes?"

"I-I tried the videophones, but only dr. Knight wanted to take me downstairs and now he doesn't want to any longer, and I can't reach my friends at four in the afternoon, they're busy, they won't answer the phone and I can't remember the numbers of the people who _might_ pick up the phone at that hour-"

"Woah, hold up, buddy, don't stress like that, I get it."

"You do?" Ash asked and felt bad when the man nodded.

"I do. I'll do my best for you."

"Thank you, Lance. Even if it turns out to be impossible, thank you for at least trying."

The man nodded but wasn't that pleased by what he had just heard. Knowing that an adult was doing something to a kid was bad enough, but hearing that the kid realised what was happening and allowed it because they knew nobody cared was ten times worse. He was ready to start a war over this, but consider him befuddled to get stopped by Ash's doctor, as well as his therapist.

"Excuse me, sir, could I possibly ask you some questions?"

"… Sure," Lance answered. "It's about Ash, isn't it?"

"Have you noticed something in particular?" the doctor asked, glancing towards the other man, who looked a bit sad.

"I don't know the kid that well, but I know that the business surrounding his father is getting to him. I suggest leaving the subject well enough alone."

"His mother did ask for me to clear it out with him," the therapist said.

"Wouldn't have been the first stupid thing Delia asked anyone to do and it certainly won't be the last either. Ash isn't that young to have people making decisions in his stead and _god_ , he's about to get adopted by the pokémon league worth of people if Delia's not careful so honestly, the last thing I'm worried about is whether the kid can get along with Red," Lance sighed.

"You've not gotten an outburst?"

"I don't egg on teenagers. I share a house with my niece who's basically an eternal teenager, so I know what turns to take and which to avoid."

" _That_ is what you consider a typical teenager?" the therapist squeaked, pointing towards Ash's room.

"I never said typical. But yes, he's got needs and you're basically depriving him of everything he lives for. Don't expect him to grow any happier the longer you're keeping him in for. I mean," the man couldn't stop the chuckle escaping him. "For someone filled with so much life, sitting here, incapacitated like that, it's got to be much more than just a struggle."

"… Life?" dr. Martin repeated, sounding dubious about the subject. "… as in a measurement?"

"Ah, but what's life without a bit of mystery, hm? Why not figure it out by yourself?

The two men were left in the hallway, the Champion quickly making his get-away. They did watch him until he disappeared out of view, dr. Knight none the wiser about the subject. However, as the man turned to dr. Martin, he saw the massive frown on his face.

"You understood what he meant?"

"If I'm correct in assuming he was talking about Aura, we're pretty much torturing a child, Oscar," the doctor answered.

"Surely not?"

"Why else would he start acting out, after such a long while of being here? There's got to be some sort of explanation, I mean… What else could it be?"

"Boredom?"

"But he's not looking for anything to do, though? He sits there, looking out the window," dr. Martin said, sounding more and more upset. "Bored kids are _horrible_ , they cause all kinds of things and drive the nurses crazy. But Ash doesn't _do_ anything and he isn't bored! He's border lining depression, that's what."

"… Then what do you suggest we do?"

"I would like you to hear me out on a plan of mine, Oscar. But first, I have some calls to make."

Dr. Knight nodded, understanding the dismissal and went on his way to his own office. He would never be able to shake the feeling that something was still terribly wrong about how Ash expressed himself, in fact, the man was completely ready to diagnose him with ADD, the statement of how little contact he kept with his friends almost convincing him to make the diagnosis public. Only, Ash proved to be perfectly capable of solving problems and he wasn't one to pull within himself, needing time to digest the situation at hand. He most certainly didn't need any more time to come up with answers to questions, that much was sure. Perhaps it was a mild form of ADD… But in all honesty, dr. Knight knew that the coming weeks would be hard on the boy and the last thing he needed was the announcement of yet another issue. Chances were Ash would ignore it, many did it when it was a mild disorder, but still, he would keep a close eye on the kid, as other issues might pop up.

* * *

The following morning made the teen aware that something was up. He didn't know what, but the nurse who had dressed him in outdoor clothes had made so little sense, that he knew something was about to happen. Perhaps they had been able to shoo some pokémon away from the garden, making room for him to have a small tour around it. Being outdoors sounded just fine to him, his hands were itchy and so was his foot, but it also looked kind of red and somewhat swollen. That dr. Martin came in with a smile on his face, that was something the boy wouldn't have expected, seeing how thunderous he had looked yesterday evening.

"… Is everything alright, doctor?" he asked, fearing the man might've lost it due to stress or a burn-out.

"Quite alright. I thought you would like an update of what is about to happen today."

"I would, yeah. It smells as if something's about to happen."

"… Smell?" the doctor repeated.

"Yeah, it's like… change. Change smells. It's possibly the clothes, I mean, I haven't worn this for a pretty long time."

"Yes, you've been inside for a little over two months now."

"Wasn't keeping track of it," the boy remarked, shrugging.

"But perhaps you would care about when it was about to end, though?" dr. Martin suggested, his smile becoming a bit cheeky.

"Eh?"

"After some careful consideration of the situation, we thought it was a good idea to release you out of the hospital's care."

" _Really_?!" Ash exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Under certain conditions, though."

"Oh."

"It's a trial period. We know you're unhappy here, so I'm willing to place a bet on an 'outdoor' kind of treatment. But you'll still be meeting up with dr. Knight and Brandon."

"… Okay?"

"Dr. Knight lives in Viridian and will be coming to your house at around seven in the evening, every two days. And Brandon has recently moved into Pallet with his family and owns a little Gym there, so I've arranged for someone to take you there in the mornings. You just got to decide at what time would be best, because if I leave it up to Brandon, he would be pulling you out of bed at six in the morning."

"He can, if he's okay with getting attacked by pokémon."

"… I'm sure he'll come by to discuss the specifics, don't worry," dr. Martin stated, knowing no one would come to appreciate getting attacked by pokémon upon entry. "Now, are you ready to go downstairs?"

"Crutches?" the teen asked hopefully.

"As you wish."

The doctor had to give it to the teen, to stand so properly in an elevator was something he hadn't seen most people with such a handicap like his two, or at least, not after such a short while. Perhaps his incentive to learn had been driven by his yearning to escape from this place, that he had been readying himself for today ever since waking up. He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, Ash might've subconsciously done so. Young trainers could never be underestimated, _especially_ not the kind of underdogs like the teen usually was classified as. Oh yes, in his free time, the doctor had gone ahead and did some research as to whom Ash Ketchum exactly was and he was pleased. Also mystified, but mostly pleased.

"Now, would you like a heads up about something, or do you want a surprise?" he asked, as they got out of the elevator.

"… Is he here? Red, I mean?"

"Why don't you move ahead towards the lobby and found out for yourself?"

Ash would've hurried if the crutches allowed him to. But no, he focussed on his steps, yet did it with plenty of gusto. And well, he did force his steps to be a bit larger than before, his tongue sticking out at the effort he was putting into his actions. The irony of it all was laughable, though, Red had apparently been just as much in a hurry to see him as Ash had been and it had caused the two to bump into each other. The man had been waiting at the exit of the hallway, after all, and well, the teen wasn't _that_ sturdy on those crutches, he could stand a bit of shaking, but he had gained some speed in his momentum.

Ash had gone down the moment he had impacted with the man, though out of instinct, he had grabbed Red's jacket, so that he wouldn't fall. In turn, Red had grabbed his arm, _also_ not wanting him to fall. The teen looked up a few seconds after they had collided, smiling a lopsided grin as his eyes met with his father's. He studied the man for a bit, realising his mother had been right by saying he looked a lot like his dad, before speaking up.

"Fancy bumping into you, then."

Red smiled widely and promptly picked him up in a hug. Or rather, he just held him up as if he was a little kid. But honestly, his father was _tall_ and so he still kind of fitted into the man's arms. Ash was pleased realising that and was well on his way to heaven after coming to the conclusion his father _did_ like him and that he was here to stay. Today was going to be an awesome day at this rate and he did try his best not to look at his mother accepting some boxes from dr. Martin. They were medicine, of course, but Ash didn't want to think about that right now. No, he was happy in his father's arms.

He must've fallen asleep during the time they had left the hospital and getting back to Pallet, all boy remembered was the unfamiliar but pretty nice scent of perfume. Or was it cologne? Red had been wearing it, so Ash figured it was the latter, but oh, he had imprinted on it alright. The smell of it was enough to make him calm the moment he woke up in an unfamiliar car. Red gently shushed him and the teen quickly settled down again, surrendering to the drowsiness once more.

"Dr Martin said he might be tired after all this. He's not had any kind of sensation like this in a good while now," Ash heard his mother say.

"That's alright, isn't it?" Lance answered. "Hope he's ready when the Pikachu comes in."

The teen perked up at just hearing the word, causing Delia to chuckle.

"I don't think that'll be a problem."

Red hummed and the boy melted back into the hug. Oh, perhaps he was a sucker for hugs too, but he had just heard his father's voice for the first time and it was a bit deeper than Lance's and oh, he was so happy. But then, the next thing he saw, was a Raichu's face. His feelings went ballistic, surely this wasn't Pikachu, right?

"Ray, down."

Ash turned to look at Red and sighed in relief when he found that this Raichu belonged to his father. The pokémon didn't move however, nose twitching curiously at him. Now that the teen was calm again, he was quick to reach out his hand towards the pokémon. The Raichu was quick to sniff it and let out a small, delighted noise, eagerly pressing its head in the boy's hand.

"O-oh… Oh, she's lovely," Ash uttered, coming to the realisation that this was only the second Raichu he ever met who wasn't a jerk or worse.

This one didn't compare to the super shy one that had learned dig in their attempt to hide away from the world, either and the teen didn't need long to figure out why this particular creature liked him so much, seeing it was his dad's and all that. Red smiled at him and nodded.

"She, yes," he said softly.

Don't ask Ash how he figured that one out, he just… despite everything, the Raichu in front of him was just so different from Lt. Surge's and no, he didn't mean just the expression on the creature's face, it appeared sleeker to him than any Raichu he had seen. But her sudden purring drew his attention away from the subject, causing the teen to stare at the creature rubbing her head against his hand.

"Oh?"

Ash looked at his father, who looked at him as well, looking a bit bewildered as he turned to watch his pokémon.

"I don't know why she does that. I… It's a first," he uttered, pulling back his hand.

Red went to rub Raichu's head but didn't get the same result. The pokémon did seem eager to get some affection from her trainer and jumped in the befuddled man's arms, in an attempt to high-jack all his attention. She succeeded, because she was a big pokémon and the man had his arms full of her. Ash was amused to see Red fumble to keep his balance but as he sat there, he could feel a pull from somewhere.

It felt familiar and it made his sleepiness dissipate, his mind now solely focused on finding out what was trying to get his attention. Last time it had happened, it had been a legendary pokémon, but surely they wouldn't be in the back yard? And as he reached for his crutches, which had conveniently been placed right next to him, leaning against the armrest, Ash noticed a door that wasn't supposed to be there. Or at least, he didn't remember it being there.

"What's over there?" he asked, but his father was too busy with his Raichu.

'Alright, then I'll just find out by myself,' the teen thought and straightened himself, heavily depending on the crutches for support.

He hoped that getting up from a couch would be getting easier over time, because it took serious effort right now. His arms burned from pulling himself up from the low seat, it had been way easier to do it when coming out of the hospital bed. The teen sniffed as he finally stood up, being mindful of the long-haired rug he was on. He didn't know how prone to slipping these kinds of rugs were, but he was determined not to fail. Heaven knew what he would knock over on his way down and he didn't see his mother anywhere but he sure as heck didn't want to spoil her good mood. Not when it had been a while since he had seen her.

The teen decided to carefully but steadily advance, after he figured that the pull he had been feeling could be someone he was missing very much. He didn't know how it was possible for Pikachu to have picked up the ability to pull his attention to him this way, but somehow Ash was quicker to assume that he had become more susceptible to this kind of powers and abilities. Nothing could stand in his way, rug or no rug, not even the clearly polished and shiny looking wooden floorboards. He was going towards that door and no one could stop him from advancing.

When he got to the door and opened it, Ash found himself so shocked by the fact his fluffy looking starter pokémon was so innocently sitting on the bed, so easily accessible, that he let go of his crutches. Naturally, he fell to the ground, but that didn't matter, he was more on Pikachu's level now. The pokémon seemed equally elated to see him, quickly darting over to him… yet came to a stop about a metre away from him.

"… Buddy?" the boy asked, tears coming to his eyes.

"Pikapi? Pichu pi?"

"Y-yeah. Yeah, it's me. It's really me."

The pokémon flew into his arms, little paws gripping the boy's shirt. By the tears running down his face, Ash knew he hadn't been ready for this, yet knew he would've regretted being separated from Pikachu for an even longer period. He held the small creature in his arms as if afraid he would fly off.

"Sweetie…" he heard his mother sigh and felt her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I can't believe it, even if he's in my arms, I-I'm not dreaming, am I?"

"No, sweetie, you're not."

He used one of his hands to attempt wiping the tears off his cheeks, but he wasn't successful as he was still crying pretty hard. Ash couldn't stop himself, he wasn't sad at all, he was just so happy! He was home, he could smell his mother's flowers in the breeze coming in through the open window.

"Red, can you… Yes, like that."

Ash felt himself get pulled up by Red's large hands, hooked under his armpits but _nothing_ could break his stubborn hold on Pikachu.

"Perhaps it's better if you took a little nap, sweetie," his mother said and Ash was inclined to agree.

He was upset by many things right now, not all bad, it was just… Why had it all had to happen so quickly? Couldn't they have warned him that he was going home? He was happy, yeah… but since when did his mother enjoy long-haired rugs? And the flooring had never been this kind of dark, hardwood flooring either, it had been a grey linoleum. Also, where had the small table in front of the TV gone? Had the living room walls also had that kind of wallpaper? Yeah, he remembered there had been small, pink and red flowers on it, but the green striped background was new. Not bad, but just… different.

"Mom?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"The living room…?"

"Mm, it was patched up as nicely as possible. But some things couldn't be saved," she answered, a sad smile on her face as she gently rubbed his arm.

The boy watched her warily, before nodding. It was better to have something nicely updated than… well, live in something ruined. He probably wouldn't have been able to stomach the destruction those… _those_ things had caused. If it hadn't been for Pikachu and Mimey protecting him-

"And Mimey?" he asked, in a bout of panic, because he hadn't seen the pokémon anywhere!

"He's okay, sweetie. Try and calm down, you'll see him later."

"What _is_ this room anyway?" Ash asked, voice shaky as he noticed the wallpaper with all the legendary pokémon depicted on it.

Strangely fitting, but at the moment, it all made little sense to him.

"Your bedroom. Or at least, for now. I had been preparing a room for you to stay at, knowing it would take a while until you could use the stairs," Delia answered calmly. "Luckily for me, I started it the day I knew you would be getting a prosthetic limb. That doctor is a piece of work, springing this kind of news on all of us on such short notice."

"We… We're okay now, right?"

"Yes? Why?"

"No hard feelings?" he asked, cringing when his mother raised an eyebrow. "I… I've not felt like myself, I don't feel in control, I said things I didn't mean, I… I'm sorry."

"… Oh, but of course, darling, we're totally okay. No hard feelings at all," she answered, resuming her gentle ministrations on his arm. "Is that what got you all upset, sweetie?"

"You weren't there for three days," he squeaked. "I missed you so much."

Delia looked like she had gotten slapped but as soon as the expression appeared on her face, it was gone, leaving room for the shame that came in a second later.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, I am, I… I'll make it up to you, some way or another, okay?"

"N-no, I just… Stay? Please?"

"Okay, sweetheart, I'm here."

Ash took a hold of her hand while holding Pikachu close with his other arm. He sniffled a couple of times, before calming down and drifting off to sleep. Leaving his mother with a lot of doubts and misgivings, mostly about herself.

"What was that?" Red asked softly, after Delia had come out of the room, having quietly closed the door behind her.

"… The therapist I'm seeing told me I was better off not facing Ash. She said that he had become upset to catch attention and that I couldn't teach him a habit like… Well, she basically told me not to comfort him while upset."

"… Seek a better therapist," the man huffed and pointed to the closed door. "No good, that."

"I know. I don't think I've ever seen him that upset, _god_ , what a mess.," she sighed. "We'll have to do better."

"I'm here."

Delia smiled warmly at him but felt sad nonetheless. Something inside her had told her she had been doing it all wrong, why had she gone ahead and made her son so upset? She _knew_ that being forgotten and ignored were the two worst things she could ever put Ash through and yet she had let a stranger dictate her life in her stead. Next time, she would bring Red along, or better, go see her husband's therapist, as she probably would curse hers out for all what she was worth.

Red must've seen her become even sadder, the longer she thought about how unfair she had treated her son, as he hugged her close. Despite his warm embrace being something she had waited, no, _longed_ for, Delia did wish it to have been in better circumstances. The medication dr. Martin had given her looked familiar, she too had suffered from depression when Red failed to come home. To hear that her beautiful little boy was sent home because two smart doctors thought he would suffer and possibly sleep for longer and longer periods -Ash's perception of time and day was skewed because of it, the longest he had slept being fifteen hours at once- if he were to remain inside the hospital, hurt her.

He hadn't appeared happy to be in Pallet Town either, the people here were mean and just… a bit too different for him to adapt to. To think Ash was so relieved to be back, came as a shock to her. But it didn't matter, they couldn't afford to think about something else than his well-being. In fact, doing worse by him wasn't an option, they _needed_ to do right or they would lose Ash. Or at least a part of him, depression was nothing to joke about, especially not with young kids… especially not with her little ray of sunshine. Delia could only hope Red's presence would make Ash happier than before. Pallet had no more reason to judge any of them now, anyhow, all that mattered now was that her son was happy and well-cared for.

* * *

Professor Oak moved the curtain out of the way, sighing deeply when he noticed Lance's car parked in front of Delia's house. Or rather, Delia and _Red's_ house.

It was still beyond him how the man could have ever thought his wife to be unfaithful to him, his arrival back in Pallet had stirred the busybody mill into overdrive… but there was no one who had anything to say about the Ketchum family, did they? And if they did, Lance would be on their asses the second their unwanted opinion came out of their mouths.

He sighed again as he moved away from the window, realising he had lost the right to worry over the family. Lance had made it perfectly clear, he wasn't supposed to be any more involved with Ash than he would be with any other trainer. Ash's personal matters weren't his responsibility and as a pokémon professor, he was only allowed to talk to the teen about issues that would affect his training or bond with his pokémon. Literally, the only two things the professor knew the boy didn't have any issues with.

But, in other words, Lance had persisted that Ash was just another trainer and not some sort of easily accessible way of getting fame… nor an output for frustration. The worst thing was, despite the Champion's harsh choice of words, the man was absolutely correct. The professor had accepted it all, knowing he had made mistakes, probably not just with Ash, but in general. But yes, he hadn't denied a thing, don't ask him why he had done those things. Well, he _couldn't_ deny it, the evidence was all there. Perhaps there were a lot of unfortunate coincidences, but he wouldn't discuss any of it. Lance was trained to find issues, the man would find offending material in a Saint's sock drawer, he was attracted to everything hidden.

He had allowed the champion to roam, make a file about negligence and corruption. It was probably the perfect blackmailing material, but Lance's sense of justice never deviated from the North and the pokémon league consisted of decent people. For all Agatha had been casting shade over him and his reputation, she had never laid a hand on him and he respected her for that. As a professor, he had occasionally clipped a rowdy kid 'round the ears, it never was a problem in the old days…

Still, even if he was told to back off, professor Oak wanted to do something for Ash, to make up for all the hurt he had caused him. He knew the teen was forgiving but he also realised that dropping all his support would damage the boy's trust in people. Ash was quick to recoil from humans to begin with, his childhood in Pallet Town had caused him to be wary of adults as a whole. In the days, the professor had thought to never see the boy again, once he had set off on his journey. Not that he thought Ash would fail as a trainer, oh no, he totally envisioned the teen to completely withdraw from society and go live in the woods as a wild child. Heck, the man was convinced the kid would be successful making a living there too, chances of him being much happier with creatures that didn't criticise him at every turn he made were high. And he would probably befriend every little, living creature he encountered along the way too.

Going to the corral at the back, the man fetched what he thought was the only good thing he could do for Ash right now, which was giving him access to a few pokémon. Not much, he didn't want complaints but the ball was in Red's field right now. If the man didn't allow his son to have pokémon, so be it, but no one could blame _him_ for not having attempted a reunion. It hadn't taken long until he found a couple, thought the professor was sure the teen would love to see any of his pokémon again. Only, they were going to have to stay in the hospital too, right? So they needed to behave and not cause a ruckus in the hospital.

Perhaps, by now, Red had already given the 'okay' for Ash to receive pokémon, so surely there wouldn't be any harm in introducing a couple more, right? If anything, you could trust Ash's pokémon to be human friendly, the worst they could do was force a hug out of you -even that darned Muk. The biggest issue, however, was that he was scared of going up to the Ketchum's house, knowing Delia could cause a wicked argument about him being there. Something about him caring at all the bad times or something.

"Tracey?"

He could hear the teen running up towards the doorway of the corral.

"Yes, professor?"

"Could you do me a favour and bring these two pokéballs to Delia's house, please?"

Tracey slowly looked down at the spheres, the professor belatedly realising that Ash's case was a touchy subject to everyone here. Gary had been telling all kinds of tales and despite the brunette not having done a thing, he was now also feeling terribly guilty for not having done anything. Also, the teen had definitely heard the kerfuffle with Lance, the man being loud enough for some birds to fly up from the nearby field. Everyone here had been reminded of their rights and wrongs and well, Tracey wasn't an idiot. He must've come to the same conclusion about this as the professor had come to just now. Namely that Delia would most likely slam the door in his face if he showed up.

'I wouldn't even blame her if she did, she's got every right to do so,' the man thought.

"… Okay," the boy eventually answered. "Right now?"

"Yes, it's still a good hour before twelve, so Delia would still be at home."

Tracey cringed at hearing the woman's name, causing the professor to sigh.

"You've got no reason to be scared of anything, you haven't done anything wrong to Delia. Or Ash for that matter."

The man instantly regretting saying the teen's name out loud too now, Tracey looked ready to cry the moment he had mentioned it.

"God, he's _fine_ , Tracey, you heard Lance call me an asshole the day Delia came in to tell me Ash had woken up."

"But Gary's seen him-"

"That was two months ago, don't let my grandson get to you. And if you hadn't outright refused to go see Ash, you wouldn't have needed to rely on Gary's outdated opinion on the matter."

"And if you hadn't been the asshole that day, you wouldn't need me to bring these pokéballs to Delia either," the boy retorted, looking upset and yes, crying.

And again, it was the god honest truth, but did he want to hear this from someone like Tracey? No, he didn't and the teen must've realised his mistake early on, his expression turned fearful now too. God, the kid looked absolutely miserable.

"I-I'm sorry-"

"If you're going to be so upset about this, I'll ask someone else, because your histrionics are the last thing Delia needs in your life."

"No! No, I'll do it. I might be upset, but I'm not a coward!"

"You don't have to yell at me, Tracey," Professor Oak said, though realised the teen was only acting out because of the suffering he had gone through.

All thanks to his grandson, who was still beating himself up at how he had treated Ash over the years. Gary, however, had quite the amount of sins to confess, contrary to how innocent Tracey actually was.

"Okay. Here," he said, handing the teen the two pokéballs. "But you and I are going to have a long talk about this situation when you return, yes?"

"… Yes, professor."

"Good. Now, off you go. Before Delia leaves."

The boy nodded stiffly and held the pokéballs as if they were the most precious things in the world, so reverently. The professor had sighed loudly once Tracey had walked out of hearing distance. A part of him wondered what had become of his life as he walked back to his office, to be disrespected by one of his assistants, a young one at that. Nevertheless, Tracey did as asked, the man could see him cross the street. He was quick to drop his curtain back in place and carry on with his work, figuring that this was all he could do for Ash until the day he came knocking himself.

* * *

It had all been a bit of a mess, dr. Martin had put his foot into a well-oiled machine and things were bound to go wrong. Fortunately, the Ketchum family had gained a few members, so when it proved that both Delia and Red had business to attend to at the same time, the very same morning Ash had come home, Lance voluntarily stepped up to keep an eye on the teen. While the kid was peacefully asleep -for now-, the man had become a victim of an identity crisis.

He, the king of take-out, had prepared _lunch_ for the kid. It felt so jarring, so domesticated, it wasn't like him at all! But he had done it voluntarily, not wanting to create a mess in his brother and sister-in-law's house and there was no way he would take Ash to as fast food place. Lance didn't even know whether there was one in Pallet Town, he hadn't bothered walking through the entire boring town, but even so, he wouldn't subject the kid to the scrutiny he had suffered from already. Boy, did this place have some creepy people living in it? The number of times he had seen curtains move without anyone visible, it was eerie, to say the least.

Lance belatedly realised, as he placed the plastic container filled with sandwiches in the fridge, that people in Kanto didn't eat bread. It wasn't even common in Johto, but he had been raised in a more modern way and his first instinct had been to pack sandwiches.

'He's a traveller, stupid,' he thought. 'Stop worrying over nothing.'

So the man went and sat in the couch, staring at meadow visible from the window. He was mesmerized by the long grass waving back and forth and suddenly had the bright idea to call out one of his pokémon. The only he could trust to behave was Flygon, who would probably just go around and have a bit of an exploration tour around the room, whilst vigorously sniffing everything on his route and bobbing his head up and down. Yeah, the creature had an awful lot of gimmicks, but he was still one of Lance's favourite pokémon, mostly due to the pokémon's delightful character. He could already imagine Ash and Flygon becoming the best of friends, but from what he had heard from Delia, he figured he could even let his old, grouchy Salamence into the teen's capable hands.

"Keep silent, will you, buddy?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper, not willing to wake the boy who was in the room next to this one, with the door partially opened.

"Fly?"

"Go and have a sniff around. Just be quiet."

Seeing the creature go around the room in a way Lance had predicted, did wonders for the man's mood. It was always funny to see how pretty tame pokémon behaved in different, unknown area's and well… Flygon _was_ tame. He'd come and lay his head on your lap and if your lap was warm and/or comfortable, the drooling would commence. Same with shoes actually, but Flygon preferred laps. That was probably the only reason why the pokémon wasn't allowed inside meetings, there were plenty laps there, of all sizes and he would test all of them out, seeing he had already explored every single meeting room there was to be explored inside the pokémon league.

Lance was pleased and in a pretty good mood now, remembering the last time Flygon had sneaked inside the room. Wallace had looked scandalised to find drool all over his 'suit' -the thing had consisted of three, large flaps of fabric- and as of that day, Mr. Goodshow had told him to recall the pokémon. A sound outside of Ash's room caught his attention, though and the man shot outside of his seat, knowing that the open door would've tempted Flygon to enter the room. And yes… there the creature was, acting even more curiously than before.

"What _are_ you doing?" the man asked, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed.

"Fly. Gon, gon," the creature answered and pushed his head against the boy's hand.

Who woke up at the feeling of the dragon's rough skin.

"Wha?"

"Morning, Ash."

"… What day is it?"

"Still the same day you were released from the hospital."

"… Really?" the teen asked, frowning. "I feel like that's been ages. But I'm actually home, right? It wasn't a dream? Coming home?"

"Sounds like you've had a good rest, then, if you're so confused about it. But no, you're home, Ash."

"Yeah, alright. Just checking."

"That's alright," the man chuckled.

Just when he came up empty on what to say to Ash, the doorbell rang. Flygon didn't like the noise, grabbing the boy's hand with his claws and hiding behind it. As endearing as it was, Lance wondered who the heck was at the door and was in no mood to deal with many people today.

"Yes?"

"M-M-Mr. Lance?" the brown-haired kid stammered, taking a few steps backwards.

"You're Tracey, right?"

"Y-yes, sir," the teen answered, nervously bobbing his head. "I came to deliver some pokéballs, s-so that Mrs. Ketchum could take 'em to Ash."

"Come in, then," he said, figuring the kid could give them to Ash himself.

"S-sir?"

"Yes?"

"Do I have to… come in?"

Lance raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"… What are you doing here anyway?"

"Birdwatching," the man answered, getting annoyed. "Get in the damn house, kid."

Tracey shot inside without another word but he was standing in the hallway.

"Don't stand on ceremony, then. Come on, follow me."

The boy was annoying him _so_ badly, reacting so skittish for no other reasons that being afraid of him. What had he done to the kid, anyway? Was it his reputation preceding him again? Or was he just plain rude without realising it?

"Go in," he all but commanded, seeing the teen would never go in by himself.

And while Tracey did go inside the room, his face had shown how badly he _hadn't_ wanted to go in. Lance rolled his eyes at the behaviour.

"Tracey?" Ash's voice asked.

"A… Ash? I-is it you?"

That was enough, the man left before he found himself commenting on the conversation. Tracey must've been upset, he realised that, but he did wonder if all of Ash's friends would react like this. Did the kid think Ash had… died? To ask if it was _him_ sitting there? As if the teen was some kind of spectre?

'Teens,' he thought, casting a dark look at the door. 'I'll never understand any of 'em. Well, except Ash, that is.'

Lance did make a mental note of how accepting his nephew was, though, it was clear the teen could look beyond a bit of intimidation. But it had to be something more than that, Ash hadn't even questioned him appearing by his bedside, just his reason to be there. That most of the Champions and trainers knew the kid was even stranger, there wasn't much everyone had in common inside of the pokémon league except for pokémon... and his nephew. All that he knew now, though, was that the skittish kid from professor Oak's laboratory was lucky to have Ash in front of him, as Lance would have likely ripped him a new one. But then again, the champion was in no hurry to befriend a couple of teenagers any time soon, so he let the two kids at it, figuring Ash was the best person to leave in charge of histrionics. Didn't mean he didn't roll his eyes as he heard Tracey blubber about Gary Oak's _stupid_ theories of what happened, though.


	6. Shouldn't Have To Be Like That

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you love it when you write an entire chapter, realise you hate everything you've written, only to make the difficult decision to scrap the whole thing and then write yourself into a writer's block? There's always something that doesn't work but I think I'm pleased about how this turned out. I hope you are as well, dear readers and I most certainly hope you're all doing well and are safe. Take care everyone xxx

Ash felt loopy and confused. Loopy, because he was tired and weary, for some reasons. Confused, because he didn't understand what was going on around him. Tracey had left quickly after his short crying session, dropping off two pokéballs and the teen couldn't understand why his friend had been crying anyway. Right now, though, he was yawning all through his dinner, the plate of no interest to him at the moment. He couldn't get his head around the fact Tracey had just brought two random pokémon over, Gible and Gliscor weren't the best of friends and while he knew they would behave around him, it meant being near them _all_ the time. And he knew pokémon well enough to know they wanted some privacy as well, even if it meant being on their own for five minutes or so, to have a little breather.

He understood, he was a people person too, but he did like staying in bed for a whole day sometimes too. It just… didn't make any sense that Tracey would've just… Or had professor Oak done a one-eighty all of a sudden and had asked Tracey to go and deliver the pokéballs? Out of fear of getting chewed out by Delia? Ash didn't know what their relationship was, or rather, what remained of it. He knew Lance had made his impression and with how annoyed his mother had seemed throughout his hospital stay, he knew she had made her mark as well. Still, he couldn't imagine his mom going from zero to a hundred just seeing a person and she would know not to be angry at the man for doing something nice, she would realise having the two pokémon would mean the world to him, right? Even knowing the two pokémon weren't socially compatible and only had him in common, he was _thrilled_ to have them.

So surely the professor could've brought them over himself, right? Only… Tracey had looked _so_ surprised and had been looking at Lance like the man had been put there by Arceus Itself, Ash was convinced the teen hadn't known he had returned home at all. So how had professor Oak known when to send Tracey in, if he and Delia weren't on speaking terms? And _why_ had he sent over the pokémon when he had made it perfectly clear that he was against him having any pokémon, having preached that sermon about how he couldn't even care for himself properly yet, so how was he supposed to have the time and energy to care for pokémon? It all made little sense to the boy, who kept frowning as questions get mulling through his head… and at his still untouched plate in front of him.

"You should eat, Ash," Delia said, not even looking up from her own dinner. "You have medicine to take."

"What would happen if I don't eat, though?"

"Your stomach is filled with acids to digest your food. If there's no food to digest, the acids will directly affect the medicine, destroying it before it can release the effect it should have on you."

Ash looked down at his belly, making a face at it.

"Didn't know eating something would be such a horrible thing."

"It's not horrible, Ash," she sighed.

He wasn't too sure about that, being melted by acids wasn't the most ideal way to go. Efficient, yeah, but still…

"Eat, Ash."

The boy pulled another face and took his time moving some of the now luke-warm potatoes around, before deciding to bring the fork to his mouth. But the small piece of potato felt hot and heavy in his mouth and he had troubles swallowing it, unused to having to chew on it. In the hospital and most pokémon centres, they usually served mashed potatoes, not diced like his mom had just made for him and it just felt a bit wrong right now. Nevertheless, he didn't want those poor medicines to just be digested in those acids and persevered for a little while.

"Alright," Delia said, not even making much of a scene by the fact he hadn't finished his meal. "Then it's time for your medicine."

He nodded, but after he had swallowed the innocent-looking liquid, he wasn't sure whether he should have any sympathy for it, because it tasted pretty bad. But his mom wasn't in a mood for jokes at the moment, so he kept his mouth shut about it and allowed her to brood. Maybe her meeting with her therapist hadn't gone too well.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?" she asked, after a good while of looking at the news on TV.

The weather had just come on and seeing it was just a repeat of the weather they had been having this week -Ash knew, he _never_ missed seeing the weather in hospital- she probably felt a bit bored.

"Tired. And a bit confused."

"Oh?"

"Did you talk to professor Oak, mom?"

"I've not spoken to him the past week."

"… Oh…"

"Why?"

"Tracey came by, to cry and then give me to pokéballs. And then left."

"I don't know what that was all about, I didn't tell anyone anything, I mean, dr. Martin sprung the news that he would release you on me as well. If I had known, I wouldn't have planned a session with my therapist today and Red wouldn't have accepted to join that meeting either."

"Lance did okay, though, I mean, you don't need much talent to watch someone who was mostly asleep."

"He did let Tracey in, though."

"Nearly gave him a heart attack, you mean? Tracey doesn't know Lance is my uncle, does he?"

"I'm not sure, but he must have realised he cares a lot about you, or else he's probably deaf or very stupid."

"Mom, you're being mean," Ash sulked. "I dunno what happened, but I'm not happy to hear you being negative about everyone and everything all the time. It's not all that bad, is it?"

"Depends on what you mean."

"Tracey's got nothing to apologise for, he's been one of the best friends I've ever had, while you've never said anything about Gary, even wanting me to be like him, you've _told_ me that much and he's been the biggest jerk to me for the biggest part of my life. But is _that_ fine then, mom? Am I cutting Gary from my life? Am I screaming at him at every chance I see?"

"… What are you trying to say?"

"I've been around people long enough to know no one's a saint, but that no one's a complete devil either. There have been people who nearly made me doubt that opinion, too good people who'd give you the shirt of their back and the worst possible, even attempting to kill children just for their pokémon… but they never actually went and did it. They _attempted_ to do it, threatened to do it, but the situation never occurred. But it's kind of important to know that the people you know, are made up in your head. You make up their character by what you've seen of them, what you've experienced with them. But people constantly change and now you're angry at professor Oak and who knows else for proving you wrong, that they weren't what you thought they were. Sure, they could've done something bad, but you should be angry at that… not at professor Oak himself. Because you can do something real bad without being a bad person. And doing the bad thing doesn't make you a bad person either… but it will in someone's eyes, the person who's been wronged. And that's kind of wrong, I think."

"I don't _hate_ the professor, Ash, I'm unhappy he's… used you like a toy and then went ahead and stood in the way of everything I thought would be best for you. And okay, I might not be the one who's always right _or_ wrong, but I knew that taking Pikachu from you was a bad move, heck, even Lance knew you'd suffer, he's never seen you without him and yet…," she said and sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, Ash. I never thought it would come to this."

"You're disappointed in me too, aren't you?" he asked. "That I got hurt at all?"

"Sweetie, there's no way I would blame you for anything. But you've got no idea how many buckets of tears and sweat I've had to throw out over you doing such… _dangerous_ things, without any regard for your own life and safety, just because you're following something that touched your heartstrings…"

"It's probably hard being my mom, huh?"

"No, it's just hard being a mother at all. You're just a part of it."

"The disappointing part, I'm sure."

"Why would you think so?"

"Because you're not denying it."

Ash watched his mother bring a hand to her face and rub over it in a tired manner. He didn't necessarily like getting his suspicions confirmed, especially not because he usually only noticed the obvious anyway.

"I'm not disappointed in you, Ash." She said, turning to face him with a serious expression on her face. "I'm actually glad that we're able to talk like this, it makes me realise that it's worth the trouble, that you're willing as well so… You're not a disappointment, sweetheart, you're a brave, kind boy and I'm so glad you're my son."

"You are?" Ash asked, genuinely surprised. "Even with all the trouble and the worry?"

"Absolutely. Whatever I would change in my life has nothing to do with you, you're perfect as you are."

"Aww, mom!" he exclaimed, bashfully bringing his hands to cover his face.

"It's taken me too long to understand that it's me who needs to change," she said, putting her hand around his shoulder. "I promise I'll do better, sweetie. Better than before."

To him, that promise didn't mean much because he had realised he hadn't noticed anything of the wrong dr. Knight found so obvious because he didn't know any better. Didn't mean he wasn't curious to see what his mom meant, he kind of enjoyed mimicking dr. Knight and drawing out his mom's true feelings. He'd been around the therapist for long enough to know what reaction jerked a certain action from someone and while he felt a bit bad about manipulating his own mom, Ash justified his action by stating it would make her feel better, knowing she could talk to her son about her worries.

It was all he ever needed, really, for her to be honest to him. He could only hope that, if she was to change, honesty would be included in the package deal. And if her change needed him to suffer through the countless glasses of medicine, so be it… For his father, upon his arrival home, had presented him with his medicine before bedtime, yet made up for the disgusting mess with a nice, warm hug. Just as he was ready for bed though, his mom had come rushing in, claimed she had forgotten his medicine and Ash just took the glass of milky white stuff that looked suspiciously similar to the one he had only recently swallowed, but hey, he trusted his parents. Even if his dad didn't talk much, the teen knew he had his ways of communicating with his mom anyways.

* * *

"Heeeeey, are you ready for some _exercises_!?" Brandon exclaimed, coming into the house with tons of enthusiasm.

"Nhh… Not really, not," Ash answered, not nearly as enthusiastic.

"Hey now, that's not how I recognise you? What's up, little buddy?" the man asked, zooming over and laying a hand on his shoulder. "Bad night?"

"Yeah," the teen said as he nodded. "Dunno why, but I can't remember if I even slept at all."

"What do you remember, then?"

"Having the world's worst dry mouth and a thumping headache."

"Sounds like your room was a bit too hot."

"Nah, Pikachu would never have stayed if that was the case."

"Do you know the temperature your heating system is set on?"

"Zero. I don't have any in my bedroom. Maybe a bit of the heat from the living room came sneaking in, but mom's skimpy on it. She doesn't like being too hot."

"Funny, most ladies I know are the 'I'm always cold' type."

"Most ladies aren't like my mom."

"No, I gathered that much. Anyway, ready?"

"No, he's not!" Delia said, her voice slicing through the air like a clap of thunder, successfully startling the man. "He needs to _eat_ and take his medicine and _then_ he's ready."

"Am I sitting next to the right boy here?" Brandon asked. "Of all the issues you have, eating never appeared on the chart, Ash."

" _Thanks_ ," the teen answered and took the tray with the tiniest of muffins on it. "And I'm sorry, mom, I don't know what's going on with me."

"It's alright, sweetie, just know I'll be here to remind you to eat, I won't have you missing a meal while I'm here," she stated, waiting patiently until the boy had eaten the muffin -despite seeing he did have issues finishing even that tiny thing.

Nevertheless, it was enough that he had eaten it so that he could take his medicine and leave for Brandon's training session. The man, however, wasn't happy by this development. Ash had seemed like a kind kid, if not a bit irritated at the time they met, but to see him having issues so soon after coming home was worrying. His worries weren't lessened when the boy proved to have issues with his coordination throughout the exercises, not even managing to get his one foot on a pedal without assistance.

He didn't want to bother Ash with it, it was clear enough he was at a loss on what was causing this, Brandon had been watching him get more and more frustrated with each attempt to do things _right_ and yet something went wrong each time. But by the time their session had ended, more or less a shadow of the lesson the trainer had planned for his most recent patient, he made sure to pull the boy's mother to the side as soon as he had placed the fast asleep child on the sofa.

"I have to tell you that I've very worried over him, Mrs. Ketchum, he wasn't even this listless and disoriented at the time when he started out his lessons with me."

"… Dr Knight will be visiting later today."

"If you take his word more serious than mine, despite my medical background, _alright_. But I'm warning you, Mrs. Ketchum, your son is growing very ill, very quickly and that's never a good sign."

"I can't do anything else than follow his medication plan. And even if I call dr. Martin, I'll be on hold until he's on his lunch break around noon anyway," Delia hissed, clearly annoyed. "If you think I've not seen how he swayed to get up this morning, you're wrong but I can't just call in for an emergency because a one-legged boy is swaying while walking. Or at least, that's what the nurse on the phone told me, _also_ not taking me very seriously. I was hoping to get dr. Knight's support, so I could at least count on him to give me a direct phone number-"

"It's _not_ dr. Knight or dr. Martin's job to watch your child. And stop making excuses, you could have told me you tried calling a doctor from the start."

"I don't have to explain myself to you, you're just a personal trainer, not medically trained-"

" _No_? You think I'm just some kind of loon who comes in to crack jokes so your son _finally_ has something to smile about? You're _very_ wrong, Mrs. Ketchum, I'm a professional physiotherapist, I went to medical school for five years of basic, medical studies and then I studied for five years more to become the help your son desperately needs. If anything, you _owe_ it to me to answer my questions when I see a patient of mine deteriorating."

"… Then, mister professional, what should I do?"

"Sit with your child and watch him. If anything changes for the worst, call for an ambulance."

"But dr. Martin-"

"Is not trained for this kind of thing!" the man cried out. "He's not a miracle maker, he can't wave a wand to make your son healthy. What you're going to need, are emergency medics, who can stabilise your son's condition _until_ dr. Martin has time to come see him. You can't expect anyone to just drop whatever they're doing just to help your son? You're not alone in the world, these people have other things to do. And yeah, his health his important, but that's what emergency calls are for, woman!"

"Are you just deliberately trying to wake Ash up now?"

"You need to set your priorities straight, lady, you care about all the wrong things here," Brandon said with a huff. "Honestly."

"I don't need to hear that from you."

"I doubt you would even take if from Arceus Itself, but I swear to It that I'll report you with Child Care if he doesn't get the care he needs!"

" _Fine_ , I'll call an ambulance when he needs it," Delia answered, clearly annoyed. "But he's asleep right now."

"That I would have to argue with you to convince you to call an emergency number is the biggest waste I've ever witnessed."

"Yes, yes, I hear you," she said. "But you've got no idea how expensive calling an ambulance is."

"It's a _relapse_ from something they missed, woman! It's not going to cost you a single cent!"

And with that, the man left, grumbling under his breath and while Delia couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, she knew it had everything to do with her lack of whatever she was missing, as a mother. She didn't know better, she had grown up in small town, when you called a doctor, they came, day or night! How was she supposed to know that wasn't the case in Celadon?

Either way, Ash was still peacefully asleep in the couch and unless he suddenly started getting worse, she _would_ call for help. But Delia knew her son had disliked his stay in hospital and sending him back to it willy-nilly, completely bypassing his desires, would do more bad than good. Didn't mean she understood why a professional would suddenly go off at her like that, but alright, she _would_ be watching Ash closely then. If it bothered him, then he could go and complain to the man who told her to do it.

* * *

Despite her initial misgivings towards the way the physiotherapist had acted towards her, Delia couldn't help feel like something was about to go _very_ wrong. Ash, however, appeared to be awake and feeling better than before, though, so she doesn't know why she was feeling this way. Had Brandon's speech spurred some kind of… bad omen inside of her? She wasn't sure, but still, the fact that her son still wasn't enjoying any kind of food she presented to him worried her enough to make an appointment with dr. Martin.

"Mom, I don't feel so good," Ash groaned, after a while.

She frowned and looked at the clock. Only an hour until dr. Knight would arrive and heavens, why was it always that her son seemed to be so out of it after taking that medicine? Could this relapse be because of that? Dr. Martin had told her to give him three doses of the stuff, anti-depressants, he had said but honestly, she wasn't seeing much effect of it, other than reducing her son into a shadow of himself. To think they had such a nice conversation the first day home…

"You're all cold, sweetheart," she said, laying a hand on his face. "Do you want me to fetch you a small blanket and settle into the couch for a while?"

"Mm-hm."

She was all bothered as she went upstairs, passing her husband on her way up. The man had looked at her in question, but the matter was hardly discussable while on the stairway, was it? She waved him off, motioning towards the kitchen before continuing her trek to Ash's room, to fetch one of those fleece blankets he had hardly used. Excuses about being warm-blooded and all that… Everything he wasn't right now.

"Here we go, sweetheart," she said, laying the blanket over his shoulder, earning her a grateful, if not a bit tired smile. "Do you want to go to the living room right now, or do you want to stay with us for a bit longer?"

"Dad's going to warm up some soup for me, said it would warm me up."

"That's very considerate of him," Delia answered, smiling at her husband standing not too far from the microwave which was making a gentle rumbling sound. "Tell me if you don't feel any better, okay?"

"'kay," he answered.

Something inside her was telling her that the soup wouldn't help, but she was willing at least try it out. At the very least it seemed to bring some colour back to his face, which was a relief. And Ash didn't seem to have any difficulties eating the soup, not once pulling a face. In fact, he seemed a bit _too_ happy with the steaming hot cup of vegetable stock. Delia felt bad not noticing it sooner… but perhaps he _had_ been hungry for a while now, eating so little these past few days. She knew about some sensory disorders, but then again, her son had never been bothered with that before! How was she to know? He hadn't had any issues in the hospital either, she had seen him eat sandwiches and he had never cared. Only after he had come home, the issue had come to the surface, as strange as it actually was.

"Delia," her husband suddenly spoke up and her attention was instantly drawn to the fact he rarely used her first name like that.

Usually, he used a nickname, or a part of her first name. 'Delia' was reserved for situations that either scared or confused him.

"What's the matter?" she asked, but followed the man's outstretched finger, pointing straight at Ash… who was giving his bowl soup a very empty look.

She kept staring at him and she noticed this subtle twitch in his lips. It wasn't until she noticed that he hadn't blinked in a good while now, that she got worried.

"Sweetheart?" Delia asked, getting up from her chair and getting closer to the otherwise unmoving boy.

Although, as she stood right next to him, she noticed one of his hands seizing as if he was having cramps in it. And Pikachu, whom she hadn't even noticed these past days, was sitting at a good distance, giving the teen a wary look. His beady eyes caught hers and Delia realised that, whatever was happening right now, wasn't new. Pikachu was silent and calm because he had been there to watch Ash at times they thought he was asleep. Maybe that was why he was so tired during the day if he got these strange bouts of listlessness. No matter how many times she called out to him, he gave her no reaction, for quite some time, even. Until she eventually got through to him.

"Ashy? Can you hear me?"

He saw her, that she knew. But he looked _so_ confused about it.

"Sweetheart?"

"M-mom?" he uttered.

"Sweetie, what's the matter?"

"H… Help… me," he whispered and keeled over, at the exact moment his mother had laid her arm around his shoulder, in an attempt to console him.

"Red, help me, please, I can't hold him!" Delia exclaimed, scared to death as her son felt like a deadweight.

She had picked him up plenty of times, recently even, but this… This felt like a sack of potatoes leaning on her chest!

"W-what's happening?" the man asked as he came over, unsure on what to do.

And that's when it happened. Ash's leg had a spasm and hit the chair so hard, it went flying through the kitchen.

"Seizure," Delia suddenly realised. "Oh, Red, lay him on the floor and call an ambulance."

The man actually went to wrap his arms around the child, but she stopped him right in time. Ash's arm shot outwards, straight at where Red's face had been one second ago, cramping up at an odd angle.

" _Go,_ " she persisted, seeing her husband was no help here. "Call an ambulance, right now."

He scampered out of the room, all pale and panicky. Red had never been good with wounds and illnesses and seeing his son this way must hurt him so badly… How ironic that Ash's health had deteriorated to this low point, just as his father came back into his life. After so many years of being completely healthy and without issues, it was more than a bit strange Ash got bombarded by issue after issue.

"It's okay, sweetie," she whispered, knowing better than to bring her face down to his level, but unable to leave him on his own, while so vulnerable. "It's going to be okay."

If he heard her, she hoped he was convinced by her words, because she sure wasn't. But she stuck to his side, someone needed to be there when he stopped breathing, or worse. A weird 'snap' sounded out and tears came to her eyes when she suddenly noticed the weird position in his arm had become even stranger.

'He broke it,' she realised. 'Dear God, let it stop. Please, let it stop.'

But it didn't. Not even after the boy was taken away on a stretcher, strapped in and transported via helicopter. Part of her was happy to see her son get taken away in such a bombastic, over the top kind of way. Ash had never been subtle as well, even now… Oh, how blind she had been. How _dumb_ she had been. She had promised him she'd change and yet…

'What a failure…' she thought, as she saw the helicopter disappear behind the house's rooftop. 'I need to do better, I don't even know what I did wrong, which is just as dumb… Wait for me, sweetheart, I'll do better for you, I promise.'

* * *

Professor Oak had been startled by a lot of things this week, not just by the helicopter which proved to be the worst scare he had gotten in years. Tracey, for example, had been more like a vault than the helpful assistant he used to be, shunning Gary as if the boy was carrying the black plague and basically not instigating any conversation unless someone asked him a question. And even then, Tracey never elaborated, which was odd as the teen liked talking, especially about pokémon. Not to mention the reaction he had on _him_ , oh…

The boy resembled a scared Meowth more than anything, eyes narrowing and if only Tracey had been able to arch his back and walk off on his tippy toes, the act would be complete! All that while the professor himself didn't have a clue what actually had happened to make his once trustworthy assistant transform into _that_. What he did know, was that it had everything to do with Delia or someone else in the Ketchum residence. The professor was at a loss when it came to the woman's annoyance with him, he had apologised profusely, changed his ways and had promised to apologise to Ash when he met the teen against and still, she acted cold towards him.

One of the other things that had changed, was the behavior of Ash's pokémon, especially towards Gary in particular. Another thing that mystified the man, however, he knew his grandson had these toxic tendencies and his dislike for some of Ash's habits and characteristics was well-known around this town. And while Ash himself just laughed those poisonous remarks away when faced with them, his pokémon weren't so lenient and it could possibly be the case that Gary had made a casual remark about something the creatures had associated with Ash. Stupid, because the pokémon loved the child with all their hearts, unconditionally, just like their trainer and his grandson was so, so lucky that these creatures had been taught to never attack unless absolutely necessary.

Ash and his dislike for violence were legendary, as well as his luck and his sheer ability to somehow become involved in every damned mess possible. And now, despite all of Gary's jest and remarks, the boy's character had been the only thing standing between Gary and a horrible death and the professor made a mental note to thank the teen next time they would meet.

And then, the last, terrible scare -before that helicopter- the man had gotten was in the form of an official letter from the Pokémon League. If he hadn't noticed that it had been sent from an unusual address, he might have laid it aside, but good that he hadn't… for it was a personal letter from Mr. Goodshow. Granted, it had been typed out by his secretary, but it was still signed by every influential and important figure in the Pokémon League. Mr. Goodshow himself, several gym Leaders he knew were sensitive to the care of trainers, as well as Scott, just to name a few.

Professor Oak had needed a bit of a sit-down after receiving that one, the idea of just leaving everything in Gary's hands and running for the hills popping up in his head. But he knew that, whatever the reason was for this letter, he wasn't the one to blame. He _had_ used Ash for his research without paying him, or even mentioning it in the boy's trainer file. But he had _never_ been in the way of the boy and his pokémon. In fact, he hadn't ever told anyone to take any of Ash's pokémon, he didn't even know how the system to send pokémon from one location to another, without actually touching them, worked! That automatic recall system had been something Gary had researched and developed, having told him that it could be handy to recall sick or aggressive pokémon… But it had been way out of his understanding and he had left his grandson in charge of it.

By doing that, he assumed the teen would grow some sense of responsibility, but as he was holding the letter in his shaking hands, he knew he had to intervene, or this threatening letter would be predicting a horrible reality, where everything he had worked for would be taken from him. All because someone he assumed could be trusted had messed up business they should have _never_ meddled with.

"Gary?" he asked, about an hour after having received the letter and having drunk a strong cup of coffee with a bit of something stronger in it, for the courage.

"Yeah?" the teen answered but didn't look up from where he was typing away at a computer.

"Look at me, please."

"Gramps, I'm finishing this paper-"

"I'll delay the due date. I need to talk to you."

Gary turned to him with a confused look on his face. The man understood his grandson's reaction, he never delayed due dates for papers, because other professors would be complaining, but there was a lot more at stake than just a few complaints this time around.

"What's the matter, gramps? You usually never let me do that."

"Show me the history of your automatic recalling system."

"Wha…? Why would you want to see something like that?"

"Show me, Gary."

"But gramps-"

"Show me!" he all but demanded, raising his voice just enough to intimidate his grandson in obeying him.

He didn't like doing it, but if his suspicions were correct, Gary had crossed a line he should have never even approached. And that was a wrong that needed to be put right, or else it would be their doom. Even if he had shouldered more than a few of Gary's earlier misdeed, the professor wasn't ready to let this chance to finally set this kid right pass up. Some sort of punishment was in order and while he would never put his hands on a child -something he had decided on after Ash had recoiled the moment he had just raised his hand to grab the League book in the bookcase behind the boy, on the shelf just above Ash's head- there were other things that would make Gary see that abusing power was never right.

Not that he _wanted_ to punish his grandson, he was all the family he still had left, after his son and wife had been killed in a tragic accident, while he had been left babysitting little Gary… But alas, the teen had slowly reached out to turn the screen of the computer towards him. Professor Oak had stared at it for a while, slowly understanding just why Delia and Lance were so angry at him. Because Gary had been recalling all of Ash's powerful pokémon at random times, disabling then and thus making it impossible for Ash to ever ask for them. But the dates weren't totally random, his memory might be failing him, but trainer seasons had a very distinct pattern and there were always important tournaments planned around summertime… and that's exactly when Gary had committed his crime.

"Please print it out for me," he said, motioning towards the printer.

The teen did just that and the professor could see he was nervous. It had been a good while ago since the first registration, but looking at the printed out results, it wasn't at all that long since Gary had illegally recalled several of Ash's strongest, or rather, very battle-capable pokémon.

"Gramps?"

"I will talk to you about this later, Gary. For now, you're suspended from your function and I would strongly advise you to remain in the residential parts of this laboratory."

"O-okay. Are… are you angry at me?"

Honestly, he was _livid_ , his grandson had gone ahead and promoted himself to a full-blown professor, just to bother and condition a young and easily impressionable boy into using some bad, if not desperate ways to get the job done. It was nothing short of a miracle Ash had made such a good impression on everyone on and outside the battlefield, with such a major handicap holding him back!

"I don't trust myself near you at the moment, Gary, I might do or say things I regret."

"It's just Ash, though."

"It's not _just_ Ash! This is another child, like you, only he had to grow up without the support of a father figure, just like you had to miss out on a mother figure! But at least you had your sister, who's been nothing but patient with you! the man exploded. "But now, Ash isn't just a child, you've chosen to bother the son of the Kanto Champion! The nephew of the Johto Champion!"

"Why does it matter now, though? I won't do it again, not after he had this accident. I mean, if he'll start travelling again at all, but still, why?"

"It pains me to say it, but Ash only recently acquired someone who genuinely cares about him, Gary. Someone who happens to be an influential person inside the Pokémon League. And let me tell you, Mr. Goodshow himself isn't at all biased by titles, but what you did is inexcusable, Gary. Look what they send me!" he exclaimed, pushing the letter in front of the teen's face.

Barely after a few seconds of reading, the boy became very pale and the professor squinted his eyes at his grandson, whose eyes had flickered towards him for a second, before going back to the letter.

"I… I'm sorry."

"I'm sure you are," the man answered. "But enough is enough. You've screwed me over more than once and I've always let everything slide, but this time, you picked the wrong kind of sucker to play with. This one's got connections all of a sudden and while Ash might object to any kind of punishment resulting from this, it's out of my hands this time. The Pokémon League wants answers and I'm going to give them what they want."

"So… What's going to happen now?"

"As I said, I don't want you coming into the laboratory part of this house any longer. I'm also not sure how long I'm suspending you, but I'll be passing on this information to the official instances. If you want to behave as if you're an official pokémon professor without following the correct studies and putting in the hours of training, you're going to have to face a penatly for acting out of order as if you truly were a professor."

"I understand," the teen said, downcast. "I'll go to my room then."

The professor doubted whether Gary actually understood what he had done wrong. Or what the possible punishment entailed. Depending on how much offence the Pokémon league took to his illegal meddling, there was a chance of actual jail time waiting for his grandson. And a mention of this abuse of power on his newly developed criminal record. The man couldn't help but shake his head, knowing this was going to turn into a mess that would undoubtedly put a shadow over his laboratory and the good work they did here. _God_ , he was so angry at Gary and yet he didn't want the teen to suffer either yet… how could he ever make this up to Ash?

"Oh, hello, Tracey," he sighed as he passed him, knowing the teen would just tense up and squint at him again.

"Is Gary finally in trouble?" the boy asked.

The professor blinked, surprised that Tracey had spoken up at all and was acting somewhat like his normal, curious self again.

"… Yes?" he said eventually. "Is that what was bothering you?"

The teen huffed and whirled around, disappearing deeply within the laboratory. Even though the man could find Tracey with ease, having lived here for such a long time, he left the boy be. There was a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that told him there was no way Tracey could know about Gary's illegal actions, the teen had been nowhere near the core of electronics in this laboratory, he was more a hands-on type of person who loved to work with pokémon themselves. And it was clear Gary knew that what he had done was bad, so he would never have boasted about it, he was a bit dumb sometimes but there was no way he'd ever be as stupid as that. Even so, it would've made no sense for Tracey to be annoyed at him also, the boy would know that, even as a pokémon professor, the man had yet to uncover most secrets hidden inside computers and electronics.

It wasn't until he had been so badly startled by the sound of the descending helicopter that he got the gist of what exactly had been bothering his young assistant. He had run outside, of course, to see what was going on, only to spot a stretcher being lifted into the air… He could see Delia panic from where he was standing and in the past, he would have run towards her, to offer her his support. But that was no longer needed, she had Red back at her side, his arms around her in a comforting hug.

He couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat appear as he watched the helicopter leave in a hurry… because if Delia and Red were accounted for, who had been taken away in that helicopter then? The professor brought a hand to his face, realising that Tracey hadn't had any beef with anyone… he had been faced with Ash himself! For a moment, he felt like running inside and question the teen who had kept this important piece of information to himself… but then again, Tracey didn't _owe_ him any explanation. And he had enough worries of his own anyhow, so he would let the teen brood until he got over whatever was bothering him. He wasn't Tracey's guardian either, so he had no say over the kid anyway.

Didn't mean his heart wasn't racing, though. The mere idea that Ash had been home, but so unwell that he hadn't been able to give a sign of life to the outside world was… bizarre. That his health had become so bad that a helicopter had come by to send him off to Celadon and no ambulance to give first aid or bring him to the smaller hospital in Viridian...

'Things are going wrong very quickly. I need to be careful not to add to any of the misery that's happening,' he thought, even though he knew that Gary's punishment would be severe, judging from the tone of the letter.

He couldn't afford to do anything wrong, he needed to stay in line or else things would get even worse than they already were. With his successor suddenly haven proven to be unworthy in the sense of being able to keep his personal life from his professional business, his future and that of his laboratory were facing uncertain times. And perhaps, if Ash reached out to him, for whatever reason, he could start restoring his bond with the Ketchum people. Because Delia might not realise it, but she was one of his rare friends. Oh, sure, there were plenty who claimed to know him, but actual friends who didn't stay with him because of his popularity? To gain something from it? Those were a rare breed to find and it had hurt to see Delia change into such a mess, just because of how beastly he had acted towards her and the knowledge of how he had been treating her son.

Or rather, how Gary had been treating Ash. But how had he been supposed to know what she had been talking about when he hadn't actually done anything? Now, of course, it all made sense to him, their anger, their sadness, he even understood Lance's frustration and criticism. By God, he was so _done_ protecting Gary, it was more than about time for his grandson to grow up and realise what he had caused. This time without someone shielding him from harm.

* * *

Inside the Emergency Room, several nurses were rushing around the now currently still form of the young boy who had admitted into Celadon Central, with a severe case of seizures. One nurse, in particular, was monitoring whether or not the child was regaining consciousness in between the attacks. So far, there no reaction from the boy, who was already cramping up again. They had immobilized the broken arm and had already splint it because it could become a severely complex fracture should it be left untreated.

They had done several blood tests, as well as giving him anti-seizure medication. So far, it seemed to have little effect, but it had only been admitted to the child after they had all agreed that he was stuck in a status epilepticus, which had taken a bit of time. It seemed smarter to wait than to rush into the situation, especially since they didn't know what was actually causing these attacks yet.

Not until the results came in, but along with those results, came a very annoyed emergency paediatrician, one that looked over the general welfare of the little ones here in Celadon Central and tended to work shifts in Intensive Care, as well as dr. Martin, who looked confused but at least wasn't making comments about 'useless parents', for everyone to here.

"Dr. Lotus, I may not know the family too well, but I find it hard to believe that either of the patient's parents have anything to do with the overdose. And if that was the case, it was probably accidental," dr. Martin said.

"Yeah, so? The kid might've taken them himself, who knows."

"I don't think so."

"If you give a kid Bupropion for depression, you can expect him to be, you know, _depressed_ enough to take a couple more," the other man hissed. "It's negligence and my hands are _itching_ to call in the police to research the matter."

"Go ahead, they won't find anything. I'm not even sure whether Ash would have realised what taking an overdose would even cause, he's not interested in it. And I didn't give the Bupropion for depression, he was frustrated and it was meant to calm him down, ease a few his worries."

"Hope it worked, because he's gonna have a few more worries after this one. Had to intubate him, for goodness sake, he's so small, we've had to find another mask, it was too big for his face!"

Dr. Martin understood the other doctor's feelings all too well, it was hard to believe that, after merely three days, this boy would end up in this hospital again, in such a sorry state as well. And dr. Lotus was right, chances of the child having a lasting effect from this were high, but then again, nothing had ever been normal around Ash.

"Anyway… What's he like?" dr. Lotus asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "As a patient, I mean. You mentioned something about frustration, which isn't something I'm looking forward to dealing with."

"You'll be fine, he's a nice enough kid," the other doctor answered. "He's rarely caused problems."

"Are you _sure_? I swear I've seen a nurse blanch at the mere mention of his name."

"One of the nightshifts, I presume?"

" _Yes_. Bad sleeper?"

"No, I think he gets friends over at night. Big, mighty pokémon friends. The nursed don't seem to like how cheeky some of them can be. But that's got little to do with Ash himself."

"And little pokémon friends? Or is none of them small enough to fit into the room?"

"He's got a Pikachu as a starter pokémon, he'll be happy to have him near him."

"Good, as soon as parents are in, I'll be asking them to bring the pokémon over."

"That's fine," dr. Martin answered.

He knew there was more he was hiding from dr. Lotus, but he had never seen any of the bizarre phenomena himself. And only dr. Knight knew exactly what the kid could do because he had straight-up asked Ash. As ballsy as it was, the doctor was certain the boy had only answered because he knew the therapist couldn't tell anyone what they had been talking about, possibly realising the man had sworn under secrecy. Or perhaps Ash just trusted dr. Knight that much. Anything was possible, but he wasn't going to cause another doctor to have a biased opinion on him from the get-go. In fact, he was tempted to have a bit of a talk with those nightshift nurses, because reacting that heavily to the name of a patient was far from professional. What if the child had been there to witness it?

"Dr. Lotus? The patient's parents have arrived."

"Ah, just on time," the man said, pushing away from the wall he had been leaning on. "Can I trust you to keep an eye on him?" he added, looking at dr. Martin.

"For now yes, then it is out of my hands. Ash's injuries don't fall under my specialisation _or_ department any longer."

"You don't have me fooled."

… Probably not. He had to deal with the kid's physiotherapist too, who had left a _scorching_ review on the lack of empathy coming from the boy's mother, as well as dr. Knight and he still was Ms. Eleanor's go-to contact for news about the prosthetic limb.

"Keep me updated. I have the potential to make the boy happy with the news about his prosthesis."

"Alright. See you around then," dr. Lotus said and left.

Only to get faced with two tragic looking people who clearly had no idea what had gone wrong. Mrs. Ketchum did have major complaints about the Bupropion, having brought the box with her, though and knew absolutely sure that this medicine was the reason for these seizures her son was suffering off. Dr. Lotus had to give it to her, she knew what she was talking about and felt like dr. Martin hadn't been lying when he said he didn't think these parents had done this intentionally. When he pointed out that double the dose of the medicine had been taken out of the box, Mrs. Ketchum defended Ash instantly, saying he could never have reached that cabinet on his own and that she had made sure there was always someone around, whether it was her, her husband or Lance.

"Who was in charge of giving him his medicine, then?"

That's when they found out what the issue had been because at the same time Mrs. Ketchum had said she was in charge of that task, her husband had also pointed at himself. It was clear that neither adult had any idea the one had passed by the other, in fact, the woman was very vocal about it, _swearing_ at the man that she had clearly mentioned him to mind his _own_ medicine, which was in a special, lockable cabinet upstairs, where Ash absolutely couldn't get to. The medicine the man took daily could severely poison the much smaller and sensitive boy and Mrs. Ketchum didn't want him anywhere near that stuff. And while Mr. Ketchum needed some time to understand that giving someone too much of medicine would have such serious side-effects, he looked _incredibly_ guilty when finally realising what he had done.

"The two of you are in luck," the man said, straightening. "He assured me you were good people, which is why I haven't sent the police at you."

And while Mrs. Ketchum looked like she had just been told to drink a glass of vinegar in one go, with Mr. Ketchum was giving him a thousand-yard stare, dr. Lotus continued.

"The automatic response to this kind of negligence is usually to summon Child Care and that could have easily resulted in some form of punishment. So I want you to know that I expect a whole lot of change from the two of you, or else there _will_ be trouble."

"Sir, I promised my boy change and by _god_ , I will change!" Mrs. Ketchum answered passionately. "The conversation I had with him the evening of the first day, before those double doses of Bupropion, it was the best one we had in ages, we _talked_! He made me smile, made me think, it was enlightening, it made me realise he's… not just a boy. I've been so stupid, doctor, and I promise I will change. I owe it to Ash."

"And you?" the doctor asked, turning to Mr. Ketchum, who looked very caught at that moment.

"I… I don't know what w… went wrong," the man uttered, glancing nervously at his wife. "I do my best every day and if that… is good enough I… I don't know."

"Red, you need to listen to me. You don't need to _obey_ me, but when I tell you something as important as to keep your hands of someone's medicine, doing the opposite is _not_ an option," Mrs. Ketchum sighed, already in tears. "We could've killed Ash _yesterday_ and we would be none the wiser! We need to do better, Red, we're not going to keep getting away with this! Giving our son _eighteen_ doses of the medicine instead of nine isn't anything to be proud of! We could've been _murderers_! And God knows how Ash is going to wake up, you don't breathe during seizures and it's bad when you stop breathing!"

"Quite," dr. Lotus answered.

"Oh!" the woman suddenly exclaimed, ducking down the table in a rush, coming back up with… a murderous looking Pikachu who had its ears flat on its head. "I don't know if it's okay this time around, but I couldn't leave him, I couldn't _bear_ the idea Ash would have to go without him, they missed each other so bad and Pikachu was there, with Ash, the whole time and I… I would appreciate it if you could… let him stay with Ash? I promise he won't be any trouble, put him anywhere near my son and he'll stay put."

"Of course, he is more than welcome to stay," the doctor said, reaching out his hand to gently pat the pokémon on the head.

The creature didn't react, its broody expression not losing the slightest of its burning intensity. It didn't surprise the man, to hear the poor pokémon had been sitting next to his trainer during these seizures, the expression it wore perfectly conveyed the feelings the Pikachu had for the situation. No wonder, dr. Lotus had seen Ash's medical record. Not even the smallest of colds was registered, this kid had been perfectly healthy up until reaching fourteen, landing in this hospital with a severed leg and traumatic injuries, to his legs, stomach and face, as well as severe head injuries, only to come back with status epilepticus. This poor creature was suddenly seeing the worst of the worst happening to its trainer, so _of course_ it would be as depressed and frustrated to see someone shift from very healthy into someone who couldn't move through a room on his own.

"Thank you, doctor, I… I hope Ash will be fine enough to have some comfort from his best friend, I mean, they're amazing together. Ash is special, even more so when it comes to pokémon, they love him and he loves them back unconditionally. Even wild pokémon, he doesn't care how big or how many teeth it's got, he'll hug it no matter what. But when he and Pikachu come together it's just that little more… It makes me realise my little boy is actually a good trainer."

"I hope so too, Mrs. Ketchum and I believe I've already gotten some feedback on how special he is with pokémon."

"Ah… Will it be allowed to open a window this time?"

"… Why wouldn't it be?"

"Last time, pokémon went from the garden, to perch straight onto the window sill. I'm afraid they would squeeze through the smallest of gaps, just to get to him," the woman answered.

"Do you think a mesh frame will help?"

"Once, perhaps, but the little ones had sharp nails and they learn fast. He does get a lot of attention from Pidgey, but Ash said that they're highly likely chicks from the Pidgeot he released. Professor Oak's coral is open, you see and Pidgeot often comes round, for an update and euhm… I think those Pidgey are just keeping an eye on Ash."

"Right."

* * *

It was quickly decided that they wouldn't open any windows near the child as long as he wasn't conscious, because yes, small pokémon had started congregating in the garden again. Dr. Lotus was amazed, that the talk of a 'special' kid was real this time. He got to hear it all the time, that a kid was special and then they're be stuck with a child screaming obscenities they had learned from the times their parents were fighting at everyone and anything that wasn't doing what they wanted. This was a nice change but their newest patient wasn't out of the woods yet. While the child had gained one broody Pikachu sitting eerily still on one of the cabinets, he hadn't been able to enjoy the company of his little friend. His condition had not improved and as such, he was moved into the department where dr. Lotus took full responsibility for him, in Intensive Care.

But he wasn't in charge of the night shift, he was one of the doctors in charge during the day and as such, left at around eight in the evening, leaving Ash in the capable hands of the I.C. nurses. There were plenty running around all the rooms, to monitor all the patients and see to their needs. With Ash, they made sure all the intubation tubes were still in place, not ripped or damaged from the most recent seizure and continued administering anti-seizure medication, to try and keep the seizures at bay. They also made sure he was moved occasionally, from one side to the other and then on his back, so he wouldn't get cramps and prevent the possibility of bedsores. Despite their professional attitude, none of those nurses were blind, so when lights in different rooms started to flicker on and off, there was a moment of panic. But as quickly as it came on, it ended, leaving the nurses to wonder whether they had just experienced a mass hallucination altogether.

One nurse in particular got a big spook when a chair inside the room had started moving on its own. The nurse had been so scared her eyes hadn't been able to move away from the erratically moving chair, or she would have spotted that the movements corresponded with how erratic the boy in the bed was wriggling around. That soon stopped as well and the poor woman let out a breath of relief before scampering off into a different room. There were other incidents around the rooms, with shadows playing in ways that weren't natural, one nurse had to take a seat after discovering his own shadow was going _against_ the light, appearing in front of him, where the light was shining, instead of at the back of him, where it should be.

And then, at three in the morning, a nurse suddenly noticed things started to float upwards. She had just been watching stuff gently rise up in the air, unable to say or do anything else but watch this strange phenomenon take place.

"You guys… What's going on in this place?" she eventually asked, not looking away from where a series of cups were floating.

"Is that real?"

"I'm not doing anything," she answered. "Look," the nurse added, waving her hand underneath the cups. "No strings or anything."

"… This shift is shaping up to be something else, I tell you that," the other nurse sighed, rubbing his forehead, before turning to look into one of the room.

His eyes widened considerably when he suddenly saw something move inside one of the rooms.

"Oh nononono!" he cried in cresendo, rushing into the room. "Someone, help!"

Several nurses ran inside the room, but all of them came to a sudden halt when they saw the floating boy hover above the bed.

"Don't stare! Come help me, this isn't good for him."

They had nodded, gently pulling the suspended child back into the bed, but it hadn't been easy as there was some force working against them. And just when they got him in position again, another seizure messed up their work, causing a couple of nurses to go and stand in the background. One of them got a nice view of the large shadow in the back of the room, right behind the folded up screen. The young man couldn't do much but stare at the shadow which seemed oddly alive. It seemed to breathe and a small, red glow showed it had eyes and it was _horrible_ to watch.

"Jonah? What's the matter?" his colleague next to him asked.

"Do you see that too?" he asked, pointing at the screen… but nothing was there.

"There are some strange things happening tonight."

"Can you guys stop making up stuff!?" the one nurse who was fiddling with an intubation tube snapped. "This kid's fighting for his life, against that bloody medicine, his only salvation being time itself for this shitty medicine to get out of his system and you're going on and on about shadows and shit going on?! It's _real_ early on the morning, it's fucking dark all the time, get used to it!"

However, as those words filled the silence in the room, it suddenly started getting even darker. The lights were still on, but it wasn't spreading. The darkness enveloped the area like a heavy fog and it worried the nurses, who were all trying to see what was causing this.

"… Okay, so maybe you're not making stuff up, but still…" the nurse uttered.

"I can't see a hand in front of my own face," another one whispered. "What is going on here?"

A sudden snapping noise shut them all up… but then the light returned into the room. A lot more than they honestly would have suspected, with it only being about three in the morning. But then again, the clock in the hallway showed that it was six in the morning, about half an hour until their shift ended. And the boy that had been twitching earlier on, was laying peaceful and still in the bed. Nothing was floating any longer, there was no shadow play, nothing. Though all of the nurses jumped when the early arriving doctors started pouring into the unit.

"And, how was he?" dr. Lotus asked, looking around at the seven I.C. nurses. "… Wait, why are all of you in here? Why are all of you looking at me like that anyway?"

"I… I…" the nurse answered, still with his hands on one of the ends of the intubation tube. "I-it was three o'clock just now, wasn't it? Guys?"

The doctor gave all of them a strange look when most of them nodded, while still looking massively confused.

"Perhaps it's about time you all headed back home and relaxed a bit."

"I swear, doctor, things got really weird, there were shadows and-!"

"Things started floating and Jonah saw this _thing_ in the back-"

"All of you, calm down. I'm sorry I didn't mention this earlier, but I was told this boy has some friends who like to visit him through the night. Those shadows you've seen were probably just those pokémon dr. Martin mentioned."

The nurse let go of the tube but jumped when he saw the broody Pikachu suddenly wasn't the only pokémon on the nightstand.

"S-sir…" the young man uttered, pointing at the Dialga toy that had suddenly appeared there.

"Yes?" the doctor asked, as he turned to look at the toy. "What of it?"

"I-I said time was the only thing that could help this boy a-and… and then this appears."

"So?"

"You know who that is, right? That's Dialga, the ruler of time and space!"

"It's a _toy_ depiction of Dialga, yes."

"Sir!" the nurse squeaked.

"Please lower your voice, nurse. I understand if the boy's condition has asked a lot of attention from you, but it's best for all of you to go home now."

As the man ushered the nurses out of the unit, he couldn't help but feel there were some things dr. Martin hadn't told him about this child. Because a toy or not, it was very coincidental the nurses hadn't noticed it before this supposed time-travel and that it _was_ indeed a toy of said pokémon. Perhaps it was best if he were to ask the man who these 'big friends' that came to visit Ash were.


	7. Can You Even Spell 'Sorry'?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, less time in between two updates! Don't know how long I can keep that up, but know I'm doing my best -and also having a bit of fun to work out some of my frustrations on someone I never gave a reason to be a dipshit in the first version of this story ;D
> 
> Hope you're all keeping safe!

"I would've been very happy if someone told me about the fact he was already readmitted to this hospital _before_ I went and left for my appointment with him."

"Be sour about it as much as you like, dr. Knight, but you were the last person on my mind at the time I got the child under my supervision," dr. Lotus answered. "But since you're here, perhaps you can jar a reaction from him."

"Unconscious still?"

"Unfortunately so."

"What was ailing him, anyway?"

"Drug overdose. His family somehow managed to give him double the amount of medicine he needed."

" _Right_ , and why am I not seeing any cops here, managing this case?"

"I've given them the benefit of doubts."

"So Mrs. Ketchum gets away with it again," the therapist sighed. "I'm not sure what to think about this, have you read the boy's physiotherapist's review on his house visit? The woman _knew_ her son wasn't doing well and-"

"I know, but it was a mistake. Mrs. Ketchum wasn't to blame, well, not fully anyway. I don't particularly like your negative, biased attitude towards this family, perhaps I would be better off asking for a new therapist."

"I don't have a negative, biased attitude towards my patient, which is what I would think to be the most important part here."

"I recall having been told that Ash's last words to you were for you to go and suck an egg. As cute as it sounds, that's still a clear sign towards you to bugger off."

"Perhaps in a different dimension I would have argued to you about this, but I was appointed to Ash and unless he has complaints, I'm staying."

"Perhaps in a different dimension, you would have come through that door without that attitude and we wouldn't be having this kind of conversation altogether."

"… I'll keep that in mind," dr. Knight replied sourly.

"Good. Now, do you have an idea of where I can find dr. Martin?"

"Did the I.C. turn into a haunted house again last night, then? Sorry to hear it."

"… Perhaps I'm better off asking you who these pokémon are, the ones that keep sneaking into his room?" dr. Lotus asked.

"I wouldn't bother them, Ash hasn't specifically stated a name, but I feel they're legendary."

"In what sense?"

"Legendary pokémon. You know, the big ones that have a lot of power? The ones that can look at you and you're a goner?"

"… He's friends with them?"

"Yup."

"I don't suppose you know who keeps putting that Dialga toy near him?"

"Oh, dear dr. Lotus, that's no toy," dr. Knight chuckled.

The man's expression dropped and he hastily excused himself with the therapist, to go and see whether the I.C. unit still existed. He wasn't scared of pokémon, but he had to draw a line somewhere. A part of him wondered what was so special about this child that humans and pokémon alike were so attracted to him, but another part of him was cursing like a sailor at the thought of having made fun of a legendary pokémon while being right in front of it.

Then again, the nurse had said something about having argued about needing time for this kid to heal and suddenly, their shift had been over. Did that mean this pokémon had been hanging around, to hear how it could help its little friend's condition? There was no other explanation, the nightshift nurses were _such_ clear-minded people, to be so shaken up something _must_ 've happened. And wasn't it all a bit too coincidental?

"What would you do when there is indeed a Dialga inside of the boy's room, though?" dr. Knight asked.

The man stopped briskly, turning towards the therapist with a startled expression.

"I don't recall you mentioning you were going to follow me."

"You did say you were wanting my help jarring a reaction from Ash."

"… I did say that."

"So?"

" _If_ there was a Dialga inside that room, I would politely ask it to go away. I doubt it would even fit inside of the room anyway, last time I've ever checked the pokédex entry for the thing, it's _huge_."

"It wasn't when you thought it was a toy."

'Don't rub it in,' the man thought and walked along the corridor, straight into the I.C. department.

There was no ruckus going on and there most certainly weren't any huge pokémon hidden in any of the rooms. While the toy was still sitting on the cabinet, the doctor got a bit of a freight realising the Pikachu that had been sitting next to it, had moved. But as soon as he looked into the bed, he quickly located the creature, snuggled in the crook of the boy's neck.

"Has he had any more seizures since my last visit here?" dr. Lotus asked, turning to the nurse who had been taking notes a bit further away.

"No, doctor, but he has also not regained consciousness. We believe he's suffering from exhaustion."

"And has the possibility of Hypoxia been determined?"

"The amount of time he could have possibly gone without oxygen has been determined to be short enough for him to possible wake up without any side effect, but our estimated amount could vary depending on whether or not he already suffered from seizures before the emergency number was called."

"I see. We'll have to keep that in mind then," the man sighed and turned to look at the therapist, who seemed a bit sullen now. "What's the matter?"

"I'm not going to be able to pull a reaction out of him when he has cerebral hypoxia, dr. Lotus," dr. Knight admitted. "Especially not if he can't communicate."

"You heard a possible diagnose, not an actual one. Ash needs to be awake for us to determine anything. But perhaps, with the lack of… positivity coming from the boy's mother and the lack of words from his father, you could talk to him a bit, if you want to. I'm sure he might hear you."

"… With extreme exhaustion?"

"You seem to like him, so even if it's no good for him, I feel like it will do you some good."

"Ah…"

"Take care, okay? I'll see you later."

"Sure."

"Oh, I don't suppose… A Dialga can't actually make lights flicker or let stuff levitate, can it?"

"I'm no pokémon professor, but I suppose not. Why, was that part of the haunted house act last night?" the therapist asked, walking around the bed to nab a chair to at least sit during this possibly useless act. "Because if it was, that was Ash partially awake and feeling scared and unsafe."

"That's… amazing. And not very good news." Dr. Lotus answered. "But thank you, dr. Knight, I'll keep this in mind, so I can at least warn the nurse not to be too surprised if their gear suddenly flies up in their hands."

Dr. Knight chuckled but the other doctor wasn't too pleased this wasn't mentioned anywhere. If this kid got semi-conscious in an operating theatre and all the scalpels started flying up, he wondered whether there would be anyone amused with those pointing things going places. Nevertheless, it was good to know it only happened when the kid was awake because that meant that sometime last night, the boy had regained consciousness, which meant the medication had lost the strength to keep him into that status epilepticus. The sooner the better, actually and the doctor could only hope that this child, who apparently was very good at spinning a lot of adults around his little finger, would come out of this situation mostly unscathed.

* * *

When professor Oak's reply came, you could say that plenty of people were annoyed at the fact that it had been professor Oak's underage grandson who had been on the verge of seriously soiling his own grandfather's hard work and reputation. And when confronted with these annoyed people and their question of why he had done this to Ash, Gary had no better answer than 'I just don't like the git'. He'd added fuel to the fire by asking why they were all annoyed anyway, saying that they were biased because Ash's father had suddenly been pulled out of the gutter, cleaned and put back into his original position of power.

Lance, one of the people present, had no desire to explain the entitled teenager that Red had never been in the gutter, but he wasn't going to waste any time with the boy. He was saddened because Ash had told them they didn't get along well, that they had come to a compromise a few years ago and tolerated each other, to a certain extent. Alright, the boy had worded it a bit differently, but his claim to know that Gary was a special kind of asshole certainly hit home. And while that had amused the man at the time, he now knew Ash had been dead right. This kid was _indeed_ an asshole and he couldn't help but feel conflicted that his nephew had just needed to tolerate this kind of treatment without complaints, or else he'd get punished even worse.

He was aware _he_ was the one who had instigated this investigation, as to why and how Ash's pokémon had been taken from him at all the important times and he was basically the only one taking offence to all these disrespectful things that had already happened to the boy. The determination to do something about these unfeeling idiots had grown until he finally found an outlet for it. With Gary Oak's crimes out in the open, for everyone to see, Mr. Goodshow had asked for help determining a fitting punishment for the teen. Initially, the president of the pokémon league had thought Ash's story to be a bit unbelievable, but he had been suspicious nonetheless, hence why he had even sent that letter… And the response had been _amazing_ , professor Oak had thrown his grandson straight under the bus, without the slightest bit of remorse. But then again, Ash had a lot of people skills and he wasn't quick to judge someone's character -he _did_ , however, judge you for your actions, straight away. For him to straight-up call Gary an asshole when talking to his newfound uncle, someone he had only recently learned to trust… It honestly should have told Lance enough.

But another part of him wasn't happy at all, because if this was the apathy Gary had been raised up with, it was no wonder the kid thought it to be okay to play his only friend as a fool. Old Oak clearly hadn't cared enough to punish his grandson when it counted and with Ash's words falling on deaf ears, the bullying had continued. Scarring these two children into believing no one cared about what they did, one assuming he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it, the other thinking everyone acted this way because he'd done something wrong and kept trying his best to prove the people he assumed to care about him wrong. It was a sad story… and while Mr. Goodshow had some troubles with getting to grips with it, Lance had gone ahead and found a very nice cell for Oak junior to have a good heart-to-heart with some teenage criminals.

"I do hope you all have some idea of what we're trying to achieve here today," Mr. Goodshow said, sighing deeply as he resumed stroking his bears. "I just cannot take this young boy's future away from him, he hasn't been successful in destroying young Ash's drive and soul for training, by some sort of miracle… but I cannot let this act go unpunished either. What to do, what to do…"

"I have a bit of an idea," Agatha piped up, having invited herself into this -initially- two-person meeting as soon she had heard the Oak's were involved. "It came to me when I saw a public letter in the newspaper, calling out for volunteers… Why not some community work?"

"Are you sure that's wise?" Lance asked. "I mean, he's blatantly told us he thinks Ash belongs to scum class, so putting him in the lowest tier of this society is just going to prove his point."

"I think that sounds like an excellent idea," Mr. Goodshow piped up, knowing that the Champion would just rather put the kid in jail. "What place do you have in mind, Agatha?"

"Celadon Central," she answered victoriously. "They're always looking for volunteers and if Gary likes to clown around, why not let him try and make a group of young, sick children smile?"

And why that sounded like an _excellent_ kind of punishment for the young, entitled researcher, Lance wasn't completely satisfied with it yet.

"Ah yes, I can see how that would teach him some very valuable life lessons, or at least a bit of empathy, but at the same time, I feel like he does not care too much about other people either. He might not be affected unless he was faced with someone he knows."

"Ash is still admitted to Celadon Central, in the Intensive Care unit of paediatrics," Lance piped up. "But I've got a nice backup for you, the time he won't spend doing community work, he can come sit in a nice and cosy jail cell if that seems like a better option for him."

"Surely not with the adults, though, Lance?"

"I have a sixteen years old teenager who cyberbullied a kid into suicide. He can tell Gary all about the backlash of being a bully when you don't have connections to keep you safe. And a seventeen-year-old kid who got bullied, got mixed up with the wrong crowd and well… He's got a good opinion on why you shouldn't ever make someone else feel like dirt too. And there's more because Gary's not special for being a bully, there are thousands of kids who think like him."

"Hm… No, quite. Then I suppose we've got Gary Oak's punishment ready. For how long though?"

"Perhaps, if Ash indeed still admitted to Celadon Central, why not force him to face the punishment until the boy is released from it?" Agatha suggested.

"I'm all for it," Lance answered.

"… Oh, is he in for a long stay still?"

"He got readmitted, Agatha. It didn't sound good when Red called me, he was terribly upset and I couldn't make much out of it, other than the fact Ash apparently had a seizure at home. Told me the kid was twitching and that Delia told him not breathing wasn't good. So I just assumed…"

"Goodness, that _is_ bad news, I had no idea," the woman sighed. "I hope Samuel's grandson will at least see the way my godson will struggle trying to reach some level of normality again. Perhaps I can have a talk with Ash's doctor, ask him not to prematurely release the boy again."

"… So the two of you have a personal attachment to Ash, hm?" Mr. Goodshow asked, looking from Lance to Agatha. "Coincidental?"

"Yes," Lance answered. "I had no idea until Red came in the picture."

"And I was told to back off for the sake of the family's safety, because of Red's connection with Team Rocket."

"Ah," the man said.

"Ah indeed, because it worked for shit," the Champion growled. "Got a hold of his diary from his first year, even on the first day of his journey, guess what?"

"Team Rocket," Agatha deadpanned.

" _Exactly_. As well as professor Oak calling him a liar for claiming to have seen Ho-Oh and having the fucking feather in his hand as proof and yet…"

"He has a Rainbow Feather in his possession?" Mr. Goodshow asked, with wide eyes, watching how Lance dug out his phone and presented a picture of the feather place inside the book, the very page the Champion had just been talking about. "Ah…"

" _Quite_."

And so, the meeting ended, with Gary's punishment decided on and now the president of the pokémon league had a bit of a different image of Ash in his mind. Lance could only hope it wasn't going to come back to bite him in the ass, but even so, he could still counter any favouritism towards Ash with the fact Mr. Goodshow had been against imprisoning Gary Oak because of his 'future', while the man had no issue sending countless kids to jail for the very same reason. Nevertheless, it was going to be a serious bother for Gary to be taken out of the comfort of his home. And the commute between Pallet and Celadon was sure to be one of the Rings of Hell, with the bus nearly stopping at every damned house it passed by, as well as sometimes taking detours because of pokémon being in the way… as well as just coming to a complete halt when there was nowhere else to go.

It would be easier for Gary to go by bike, though he wasn't sure the kid would be up to ride that distance twice a day. But even if he was fit enough, the weather was getting colder and wetter already, Halloween almost around the corner. Chances of Ash being hospitalized throughout the biggest part of the holidays were high and it made him smile wryly, but it was comforting that most of Gary's Christmas and New Years' would be spent in hospital too if his nephew hadn't been released by that time.

'Good,' Lance thought, a smug, somewhat satisfied smile on his face as he walked through the halls of the pokémon league. 'As long as it's fair, I'm all for it. Even if I would have been more inclined to leave Oak Junior in there for even longer than he put Ash through all that trouble.'

* * *

Misty bit her lip, as hard as she could without breaking the skin of it. She had been crying herself to sleep these past days, being nothing short of irritable when out of her room and being a bother to anyone who tried to be nice to her. How her sisters had put up with this was admirable… but she couldn't help it. Her best friend was dying and there was nothing she could do about it. She didn't even know where he was! All she knew was the information Gary had posted in the group chat and despite Tracey's insistent messages that the other had been lying, that he had seen Ash home a couple of days ago… They were nothing but dull, meaningless words to her.

"Misty, you should totes go and talk to Mrs. Ketchum," Daisy said, trying to urge a reaction from her youngest sister. "Like, this can't go on like this."

"W… What if he's dead?" the girl asked, tears springing to her eyes "What am I going to do with myself when he's not there any longer, I-"

"It's better that than live in an illusion. You've got to face the music sometimes, trust me, you'll feel better."

"How would you know, you don't even _like_ Ash!"

"Hey now, don't shout at me, I'm just trying to help," she said, as she gently laid a hand on her sister's shoulder, knowing she would just be pushed away if she tried to hug her. "Look, you might think it's a coincidence, but the moment Gary send you a message that Ash was in a bad way, the world literally stopped turning, like… even I would know the importance of that."

"That had _nothing_ to do with Ash!" Misty cried. "Keep your mythical nonsense to yourself!" she added, springing up and running back upstairs.

Daisy watched her go and sighed when the door to the girl's bedroom got slammed close. While this was typical teenager behaviour, the woman didn't like how quickly her sister was withdrawing. She knew the little dumb Pallet trainer meant the world to Misty, he'd been her salvation out of a dreadful future. If Ash hadn't taken her on that journey where she found the confidence to stand up for herself, gain the experience she needed to switch out her battle-weary sisters out of the Gym… Cerulean City probably wouldn't have had a Gym any longer if Ash hadn't been there. She might not like the kid, but she definitely owed him a bunch for saving their Gym.

But if Moses wasn't going to the mountain, the mountain just had to go to Moses. She might not be able to get Mrs. Ketchum to come over to the Gym, if her son was indeed in such a bad way as Gary had made them all think, with raising that Kickstarter to help Ash's parents to pay for his funeral, but at the same time, she might be able to share some news that Misty might believe. Nothing was ever normal when it came to the teen's adventures and Daisy wouldn't at all be surprised if this was even the case with a hospital stay. However, the phone rang for a long time and she was worried that Mrs. Ketchum wouldn't be home at all, but then the woman finally answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Ketchum. It's Daisy, from the Cerulean Gym. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

"Oh, no, no, dear, of course not. How can I help you?" she asked, despite sounding like she had been running laps around the house, so out of breath.

"I was wondering whether you could tell me how Ash was doing, Mrs., as Misty is very worried about him."

"O-oh, he… He's euhm… in safe hands. I mean, he was readmitted to the hospital yesterday but he's okay. I called this morning, they said his condition was stable."

"Ah, but then… Readmitted? He was released from the hospital?"

"Yes, that's right. I know Ash was planning on contacting his friends again but he got more and more bummed out, probably due to that… medicine we didn't… But no, he's well, it's just…"

"Mrs. Ketchum, my sister has donated quite a bit of money for your son's funeral," Daisy said, confused… and worried when she heard the strangest of noises come from the other end of the line.

"Funeral?" Mrs. Ketchum repeated as if she could barely pronounce the word right without choking in it. "Donation? F… from _who_?"

"There was a Kickstarter made, I… I believe Gary Oak was the one who brought the idea up-"

"The _nerve_ of him! The nerve!" the woman cried out. "How dare he!? Ash was right, he _is_ a quack!"

"W-what?" Daisy asked, smiling because honestly, she couldn't imagine the kid ever being able to pronounce the word, let alone think of using it in that context.

"He's a good for nothing asshole of a boy, how _dare_ he say my son is… Oooh! How dare he!? Hasn't been in to see Ash once and yet he knows all about Ash is from the one time he saw him when he had been just admitted into the hospital after being attacked by that pokémon and afterwards, he couldn't even be bothered to visit my little boy!"

"I understand you're upset, Mrs. Ketchum-"

"Upset? I'm _livid_!" she exclaimed. "I'm going to have words with that boy, his grandfather be damned! And I swear your sister will be getting back every cent she so kindly gave for such a-a… oooh, Red, stop me or I'm pulling this phone to pieces!"

And then suddenly, the call disconnected and Daisy was left none the wiser on what was going to happen next. She did, however, know from Mrs. Ketchum's reaction that Ash was anything but dead. As she had expected, to be honest, but Misty had donated the money before telling anyone about the reason for it. And even then, no one had dared to say anything, but the least they all had expected to get a 'thank you' from Mrs. Ketchum sooner or later. Partially the reason why she had wanted Misty to get into contact with her… but this was _interesting_ , to say the least.

So, pleased with her findings, she went upstairs, to go and find her sister and tell her all about the things she had learned just now. Besides, this 'Red' person Mrs. Ketchum had referred to sounded very much like he could be Ash's mystery father, the one that, according to Misty, Ash never actually had spoken up about.

'Good for you, Ash,' Daisy though, happy with the current developments. 'Good for you.'

Now, all she needed to do was get it through her sister's head that there was nothing to be moody about. Though getting to her room proved to be a challenge of its own, as Misty apparently had barricaded the door to her bedroom with some furniture.

"Okay, kid," the woman said, not willing to deal with these kinds of actions right now. "You've got two choices. Either you open this door by yourself or I'm sicking Dewgong on it and it's not going to be pretty for either of us. And I know exactly who's going to pay for the repairs."

A muffled 'fine' came from the other side of the door and after plenty of noise coming from the room, the door opened.

"What do you want?"

"You're getting your money back, Ash's isn't dead and his mom is very upset at Gary spreading that kind of news while Ash was actually released from the hospital a few days ago."

"He's back?" the girl asked, eyes wide in confusion. "W-wha… How?"

"Euhm, he _was_ back, his mother said he had been readmitted but that he was okay. And not dead."

"B-but… Gary would know, wouldn't he?"

"I don't think he would, according to Ash's mom, he hadn't seen Ash from the first few days the kid for admitted in the hospital. He might have been in a bad way then, but he sure as heck wasn't the days after."

"… I… I need to tell the others! Oh no, Tracey was _right_!" Misty exclaimed. "Oh no, that's terrible, I need to contact them right now, I-"

"What you need to do right now is calm down and come with me to get some snacks. It's been too long since you've had a decent meal and we'll most definitely make that up with dinner because I don't like how pale you're looking."

"B-but-"

"No butts. You're coming with me."

Misty didn't object any further, but Daisy was frustrated to hear that Gary had been spreading this fake story further than she had imagined he would ever dare. How many people had he wrongfully told about Ash's apparent unfortunate accident? More importantly, how much money had he gathered?

"Is… is Ash okay enough? To visit him?"

"I'd have to ask Mrs. Ketchum for his location and whether it's okay, but she seemed a bit too angry. I would give her a few days to calm down and solve matters her own way."

"Yeah," Misty chuckled. "She's a bit like Ash in that way. Better leave her to do her thing or else…"

"There we go, you're smiling again."

"Sorry, I… I felt lost. I wouldn't know what to do without him, I mean, I've not met him in a while but it's comforting to know he's just… there. Like a fall-back plan, you know?"

"Every grand act needs a decent safety net," Daisy answered. "Just make sure you don't get tangled up in it when you fall, okay?"

"Nah, Ash isn't that way. He'd never keep anyone close if he knew it made them unhappy. I never even understood why you guys never liked him, but he must've realised that, hence why he never comes to the Gym when you're here."

"Oh?"

"He's been here before, didn't you know?" Mist remarked, looking at her in surprise. "I know he was trying to avoid meeting you guys, but surely you guys would've at least seen him sneak about?"

"Never! But huuh, that's… very surprising. I wouldn't have thought… Ah well, I'm glad your good friend is okay then. We'll see him soon enough."

"Will we?"

"Yep. Let's give Mrs. Ketchum a chance to root the weeds out of her life and then we'll see if we can get you and Ash to meet up, yeah?"

"Yeah, okay. Thanks, Daisy, I really appreciate this," the girl said, wiping away at her eyes, trying to catch the tears that were threatening to roll downwards.

"Hey now, you know I tried my best," Daisy answered, grabbing her sister in a hug. "So trust me, it's gonna be fine, I promise you."

"Myeah."

* * *

Professor Oak took a step backwards when he suddenly was faced with someone he didn't know, but also appeared to be from the police. And she most definitely looked like the kind of officer trained to handle difficult situations, it was just the way she held herself that told him she was here because there was trouble. Didn't mean he wasn't sweating bullets right now, especially not since he had already needed to deal with Gary's defiant screams on how _unfair_ it was that he was being punished, while it had all been Ash's fault for speaking up. Yeah, as if _that_ made any sense, huh?

"… Good afternoon. How can I help you?"

"Good afternoon, professor Oak, I'm looking for Gary Oak. Is he in?"

"Y-yes, he's in his bedroom, I can get him for you."

"Please. May we come in?"

There were just five people so they would most definitely fit into the living room. But the way the officer went to sit down and the others just kept standing upright, looking around the room… No, this wasn't good and the man almost ran upstairs, before deciding it wouldn't matter right now. Gary must have done something else than forging documents for Ash's pokémon being recalled… But what could possibly be worse than the abuse of power the pokémon league had taken such offence to? This time, the professor wasn't scared of the laboratory's reputation, this was something that went far beyond what the G-men did. It scared the man immensely, because what if there were more things his grandson had been hiding from him?

"Gary?" he asked, after having knocked on the door. "I need you to come downstairs right now, please."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there in a minute."

"No, right now," the professor persisted.

" _Fine_ , geez… Stuck up old man."

'Oh, Gary, you have no idea what this old man has already done for you. But I won't do it again, I feel like I hardly know you,' professor Oak thought, feeling tears spring to his eyes at the idea that someone in his family was doing such horrible things without any remorse.

And then, the teen came out of the room, all sulky.

"Put your shoes on."

"Anything else? Want me to put on the kettle while I'm at it?" Gary asked with a huff, as he kicked on his shoes, stepping into them instead of tying them on nicely.

"No. Please go downstairs, I'm right behind you."

"If I run, I'll outrun you, you know that, right?"

The man decided not to comment on that. He had seen one of the officers take place in front of the laboratory's entrance and another was in front of the front door. Both exits had been blocked by the strong and defiant looking officer, so no matter what way Gary ran, he'd run straight into his own misfortune. If he had done something bad, running away from the police was one of the worst things he could possibly do.

"What the…," the teen uttered, upon seeing the officer lock eyes with him, as soon as he walked into the living room. "Gramps, what's all this about?"

"Gary Oak?" the officer asked, straightening and standing up from where she had been sitting.

"… Yes?"

"I'm here to arrest you."

"What!? No, I'm doing community service already, I've already been punished."

"For another matter, I've understood that much," the officer answered, not the slightest bit bothered by Gary's attitude. "I'm here because for a different crime, one that is outside of the jurisdiction of the pokémon league."

" _What_ crime? I've not done anything bad, you're mistaken."

"You're willing to argue with me on the nature of your crime whilst knowing that anything you say and do could be used against you?"

"I'm _innocent_!" the teen persisted, visibly angry.

"Gary, calm down," professor Oak said, trying to calm his grandson down, despite feeling agitated himself.

"Shut up. You already said it's out of your hands, so I don't need your help, old man," Gary hissed.

"In that case, perhaps, professor, it would be best for you to step outside. I would not want you to be in the line of fire."

He nodded, knowing she meant well. And if Gary was indeed not as innocent as he was claiming to be, he was best of standing out of sight. It was the same with punishing a pokémon that had just hurt someone and didn't know any better. The further the trainer was out of sight, the better the message would come through. Besides, despite that fact he hadn't helped Gary at all at the time in the pokémon league, there was still a chance that _if_ this punishment was worse than the community service the teen was already so bummed out about, he'd still try and reach out to him. And that's something the man knew his heart couldn't take… Besides, even if he did want to help Gary, this time, he was at a complete loss on what to do to help the kid. Didn't mean he wasn't going to be listening in, though, just in case.

"So," the officer started calmly. "You state you have no idea what you are being arrested for?"

"I've said so already!"

"You do not remember the criminal fact that you embezzled money from minors?"

"What? No!"

"We have contacted the company called Kickstarter, under the impression that a 'Gary Oak' had started one for the funeral of a friend who is not dead. In fact, there has never been a funeral and yet that was never addressed or communicated to the ones who donated the money."

There was no answer from Gary this time around and the professor bit his lip, taking a deep breath and praying to any God listening that this wasn't true.

"I… I'm sorry."

"I didn't ask if you were sorry, do you remember doing it?" the officer asked.

"I… I didn't think he was dying, but I didn't know how he was doing, I… I'll give the money back, I promise!"

"That option is no longer available, you have kept it on your bank account for over five months, with no intention to give it back. And besides, what stopped you from asking how your friend was doing? Were you happy in your own fantasy that he wasn't there to meddle with your perfect life any longer?"

"No! No, of course not."

"Have you got no shame or guilt? Asking children for money? Did you think no one was going to start asking questions? What did you think was going to happen if someone found out? Or do you want to go to jail?"

"No! I don't wanna go to jail! I just don't understand why everyone's suddenly so happy to defend Ash and be upset at me! It's literally just Ash, why the fuck are all of you up my ass now!?"

"You think we wouldn't have stood here if this happened to anyone else? No matter who it was, no matter when you did it, taking money from anyone under false pretences, is _always_ a punishable fact. It's got nothing to do with who you did it to. The slander, however… the boy's mother wasn't happy, hearing you were so desperately wishing her son dead, taking pleasure in the grief of his friends. Don't try to deny it, we have all the conversations, including the drafts of what you were meaning to send. All that while everyone assumed the two of you were friends… There's a big chance you won't ever meet him again."

"I don't want to see the sucker again, he's always causing problems where he shouldn't, including this. His friends are no better, blabbing to someone about this. I bet it was Misty, she's always been thick as thieves with Ash, wouldn't surprise me if she suddenly got the hallelujah to finally make up her mind and go see Ash herself. Or rack up the nerve to go and speak to Mrs. Ketchum, like the backstabbing bitch she is."

"I was not under the impression a minor was involved with the case. And backstabbing bitch or not, if that girl did go and talk to the boy's mother, she's got more courage and honour than you have. Because all you have are false ideas and fantasies you've been making up in your mind."

"Oh yeah?! Wouldn't have gone out of her way if Lance wasn't here muscle-rolling his way over my grandpa!"

"Lance isn't here now either."

"Probably has got something better to do, _finally_."

"No, he's not here because dealing with child criminals is not within his jurisdiction. In fact, commander Lance has no idea of our intervention, I do most certainly not have the habit to talk about my work outside of my workgroup. As it should. Now, however, it is time to go and follow my colleagues into the van."

"What? No! Why should I just come with you?"

"You could struggle, but that won't help you or your case."

"What about my things? And where are you sending me?"

"I will remain here for the time being and collect some necessities. As to where you are going, I'm aware you are doing your community service in Celadon Central… So you get lucky, there is a reformatory in Celadon as well, on walking distance from the hospital. As for any ideas on running, you will have an electronic bracelet on. One step too far from the hospital or the reformatory and the Arcanine will find you quicker than you can even think of hiding."

Gary spluttered some responses but he was no match for the officers trained in combat. It didn't sound like he was struggling, which was good but still… _Fraud_. The professor couldn't get his head around how Gary had just taken advantage of Ash's friends like that and honestly… he was _glad_ his grandson was getting some help before it was too late. It was ironic that things were starting to show up right now when Ash had suddenly started talking. And he knew, the kid would never have complained about it because he didn't think this kind of abuse was _bad_. To the kid, it was just another hurdle he'd have to get over and wasn't it amazing that such a young boy had the courage to go ahead and keep going forward? But at the same time, wasn't it tragic to realise that Ash hadn't ever thought it was abuse and had never said anything until someone encouraged him to talk?

"Professor?" the officer asked softly. "Could I ask for some assistance? I feel uncomfortable going through the boy's personal belongings without your approval."

"I'll show you to his room," the man answered.

"Is the boy usually like that, professor?"

"… Yes. Though it has grown worse recently. I… I thought it was because he suffered from Ash' accident, but I'm not sure about that. The way he made others feel worse than him, even calling Tracey a bad friend while I've never seen Ash any happier while with him… I should have realised sooner. I should have done something sooner."

"If he feels entitled to do this without expecting to be reprimanded for it, rather thinking someone else is to blame for causing him to get punished, I feel like he is already beyond the help you could ever give him."

"Yes… I already didn't know how to react to him after he heard about the community work."

"You won't have to, professor. Would you be so kind to fill him a bag of clothes and some books perhaps? I would rather not have you give electronics or sharp objects. No clothes with strings or laces, especially no shoes… slippers are fine."

"Yes, I'll… have a look."

It had been years since he had been inside of Gary's closet and it did kind of look like a pigsty. Perhaps, on the lonelier nights, he could come here and give the place a bit of a clean. It could definitely use a bit of attention… Perhaps a new kind of wallpaper, because it was peeling off at some corners. Looking around, it was clear Gary wasn't a happy kid, but it had spiralled out of control.

"It might not feel like it right now, but we're going to try and help him. This will be one of the only chances he has to straighten up his act and be a decent human being. Because right now, if he's left at it, with barely any form of decent feedback on what his actions have caused, it will spiral out of control. And that might possibly leave you without your grandson for even longer… or even forever. It's a painful fact, I'm sure, but I feel like he needs some clarification on some things."

"Please, go ahead. I feel for him, I do… But I know I can't help him. I can't tell you anything about Ash other than he's a darling boy, a bit silly at times, but haven't we all had that period, hm? How he could've… _done_ such things to someone who never did anything to him, except for smile and be there… It's baffling."

"No, it's lack of respect. Many people have issues with that these days, your grandson isn't an exception. I wouldn't feel too bad, there's over seventy percent chance he'll get better, twenty-nine percent he's become the best he's ever been and the rest is a chance that he'll remain the same, if not worse. So he's got good prospects, I suppose."

The professor nodded but hoped that that reformatory would have some thick, well-insulated walls because he knew that Gary wouldn't change unless he had no other option. And he had always been a bit vocal about injustice and if he kept blaming Ash for his own stupidities and -dare he say it- _crimes_. That was all Gary, he knew that much… but did Gary know himself then?

"I wish you the very best," he said, as he handed the officer the bag.

"You're very kind, professor. I'm glad you realise we only have good intentions towards Gary. And yourself, of course."

"It's a bitter pill to swallow… but I've had worse."

The office smiled in sympathy and left, with the bag. Leaving the professor alone. Perhaps that was for the best, he had enough stress and worries of his own to deal with right now. And perhaps he could give Gary a better future than just being bend over a computer, ticking away at the keys, writing words no one but a terribly bored professor would ever read. Maybe Tracey, if he ever got out of his funk, would be best off following the subjects he was best at… Whatever would happen, nothing would remain the same as seeing how much… unhappiness there had been and such bad situations had happened in the past, professor Oak couldn't help but look forward to seeing whether it would all change for the better.

And it all remained to be seen, he was still shaking at having heard about that Kickstarter for Ash's supposed funeral, which already brought tears to his eyes just thinking about it… but who knew how Delia had reacted to it. Gary might have been blasé about it, but personally, the professor didn't think it would've been one of the kids to ring the alarm bell. Highly likely that one of the family members had started doubting Gary's words and had probably gone to Delia about it. Oh, he didn't want to imagine how she would've responded to getting that news… No, this time, they would all have to do better, for both Gary and Ash, as there was no more room for failure any longer.

* * *

Ash's breath hitched when he saw all the white walls surrounding him.

'What am I doing here?' he thought, panicking because he had never _liked_ hospitals and what was he doing here anyway?

Had something happened back in Unova? Or wait, no, _had_ he even gone there? His worries got even worse when he couldn't lift his arms and he straight up panicked when he could only bring his arm up slightly with the biggest effort he had ever needed to move at all. His legs were the same, he couldn't even lift his left leg, in fact, he couldn't feel it! What was going on! And was that a mask on his face? The teen would've tried taking it off, if only he had the strength to do it. But his arms felt like jelly and he was all alone.

"Hush, Chosen, you're safe."

Okay, maybe not so alone.

"Who are you?" the boy asked, wide-eyed as he stared at the purplish-pink creature at the side of his bed.

"… Ah… I… It will come to you, Chosen, try not to worry."

"I can't _move_!" he hissed. "How am I not supposed to worry?!"

" _Hush_ ," the creature repeated. "Do you want to draw in the nurses?"

"If you've got such a big mouth, why would you be scared of a couple of nurses?" Ash bit back. "You're not in this bed, you're not experiencing this, it's all funny to look at stuff from a distance and judge, but I'm _in_ it. I've got no other choice but to deal with it!"

"… True. But remember, a situation has to get worse before it can get better."

"It can't get any worse from this point on!"

"Then, sit back and enjoy the good to come," the creature said but gave the teen a rueful look nonetheless. "As nice as it is to see you in a less than… enjoyable manner, I need you to know I only came because you felt lonely. But, if my presence does not ease your worries, I will leave."

The boy looked at it with tears rolling down his face. If the being didn't have such magnificent powers at its disposal, it probably would have left a while ago. But now, how could it leave when this child, once so great and strong, was feeling so scared and confused?

"Here," it said, picking up the boy's hand with one of its paws. "Can you feel this?"

"Yeah?" Ash answered softly, still confused.

"When there is still feeling, the chances of your limbs being paralyzed are small."

"But _why_? What happened?"

"I cannot possibly tell you. But perhaps, soon enough a nurse will check up on you and you can ask her."

"… Will she know why I can't remember?"

"Possibly. I do trust human science, after all. Not the scientist, but the science itself is fine."

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Mewtwo," it answered.

"… What happened with Mewone?"

"Mew is happily swinging around some branches of the Tree of Life. If you remember that place."

"… Oh, I… think so. The place I first used Aura, right?"

"Correct."

"I-I'm sorry, I'm asking stupid questions again, I won't do it again, I promise," the teen said and Mewtwo could feel the child growing more and more upset.

Not at what was happening around him right now, but his memories had been jarred somewhat, it could notice that the boy was being much nicer to him. But the begging made the pokémon angry because it knew what had happened to make this human say these words.

"I have to leave at some point," it said. "But remember, Chosen, you will never be truly alone," it added, gently pushing the boy's face to the other side of the room, where he could see the Dialga posed neatly on top of the cabinet right next to his bed. "Do you remember it?"

"… I… think so. I… you wiped out my memories once, didn't you?"

"I did," Mewtwo admitted. "I meant to save you."

"From Team Rocket, right?"

"Correct."

"But they've been following me before… I don't think I even met you when I first saw them."

"I do not particularly like that news, for it means they have still placed their target on you," the creature said, looking away from the boy.

"I-if you don't wanna be with me because of that, you can leave, I won't think any less of you. You're allowed to put your safety above my own."

But Mewtwo let out a hearty laugh at that.

"Selfless child, I love how you assume… Ah, trust me, you remember me, but you have never _truly_ even scratched the surface of my identity before."

"Are you afraid of me?" Ash asked, still looking upset and tearful.

The question took the creature off guard, but with the boy being so emotional, it gave its response a moment to form.

"Once, perhaps, because you were my opposite. You were everything I never thought to find in a human and that scared me. But you showed me the folly of it all, that I should leave my silly judging until I have dealt with each human individually."

"I did that?"

"You did. So, fear not, I am here to keep you safe. As well as the others, whom you cannot see simply because they are here to protect you from afar, yet will have no doubt to surface when the danger comes close to you. And then again, another we cannot exclude…"

It might be risky, but Mewtwo decided to walk around the bed and go poke the sleeping Pikachu. It woke up with the most murderous looking expression on its face, but as soon as it saw the finger the pokémon pointed towards the bed, it jumped up, frustrations long forgotten as Pikachu landed right next to Ash's head.

"A-ah, you're here too?" the boy uttered. "And now I can't even hold you, I'm so sorry."

Pikachu didn't care, he nestled into the crook of the teen's neck and promptly fell asleep there, purring gently. But that caused Ash to cry even harder and Mewtwo understood. If the child didn't remember certain events, things like these might be confusing to him. Not to mention that it was clear he didn't remember their previous, more recent encounters together, which might point at the fact he doesn't know about the issue of his left leg yet. There wasn't much the pokémon could do other than sit with the boy for a while, though.

It was funny, or so the creature thought, Ash was making it feel all kinds of emotions that used to be foreign for it. Caring for another being? Hah, if one had ever endeavoured to relay that news to it several years ago, they would most certainly not have lived to tell the tale, but most of all, it would never have believed and yet… here it stood, feeling its own heart struggle with the grief this child was dealing with. Mewtwo hadn't lied, it didn't know what had happened because if it had, it would have done everything in its power to stop it.

'Perhaps I could linger,' it thought, as it watched as Ash's eyes started to droop, only for him to fall asleep a little while later.

It was hardly surprising, the purring from Pikachu was very relaxing to listen to and honestly… Mewtwo was bewildered because it had rarely heard pokémon purr at all. A couple of times, but it had just assumed that it was a trait of the kind of pokémon. Never that it had something to do with a state of mind.

The sound of an opening door caused it to teleport away from this hospital, leaving no trace of its visit as it landed far away, on its safe heaven called New Island. Mewtwo could have some time to think about what had just happened and perhaps learn something from it. It knew that these events would leave serious marks on this child and Chosen or not, no one said that, when the boy was chosen for the important task of maintaining this world's balance, that he had to do it alone. No, no, it would be right there whenever the child needed it… and it was weird to feel needed, in this strange, cruel world. But, it was something Mewtwo would have to come to terms with on its own and adapt.

Just like the nurses coming into the boy's room had said a little prayer before going in and had sighed in relief when they noticed that there wasn't anything floating around the room. Everything seemed to be in the same place as before, so they assumed not much had changed to the boy's condition. However, the nurse who had gone to check if everything still seemed to be in order with the tubes of the ventilation device, also noticed the still wet tear marks on the child's cheeks.

"Oh, he woke up, I think," she said, alerting her colleague, who came over rather quickly.

"But… he hasn't moved? The sheets aren't wrinkled or pulled out of the sides," the other asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, but perhaps he cried while unconscious. Or it could have been distress, Dr. Lotus pulled a face when he got the results of the blood test, you said he was worried the boy's seizures might have resulted in Hypoxia. If the sheets didn't move, doesn't mean he never tried, I mean, movement issues are common with Hypoxia. Not to mention that amnesia could be a sure sign of this apparent distress. He might even have had a hallucination that upset him."

"We don't know until he wakes, unfortunately."

"No, quite. Still, it's something to report to the doctor."

"You do that, then. He's not in the best of moods."

The nurse rolled her eyes, finished up her work, gave the boy one last check-up and left. She didn't care much if a doctor was moody or not, every day had the option to be one that would test you like none other, but that didn't mean you couldn't maintain even a bit of a professional attitude. All the man had to do was nod, so she at least had a sign he had heard her. Not the most difficult part was it? But the nurse couldn't have known that dr. Lotus' day would get a whole lot worse, at least giving him a good reason to have a bad mood.

* * *

The next time Ash woke up, he at least had another human companion in the room with him. Oh, he knew _her_ alright, that was his mom, texting someone in a rather heated way, which told him something bad had happened. He also knew she might work it out on him, so he knew he was best off not mentioning the pokémon that had visited earlier today.

"… Mom?" he asked softly, smiling when she looked up.

"Sweetheart! Oh, my dearest!" she exclaimed, jumping up, nearly dropping her phone.

The following sequence was kind of funny to watch, because his mom _definitely_ was aware he had some special friends in the pokémon world. She fumbled to catch her phone and went to place it on the nightstand yet nearly knocked it off the surface again when her hand brushed against the small Dialga statue. Her face went through various expression, some at the same time, but eventually, she plopped back on the seat and shoved her chair as close to the bed as possible.

"Sweetie, how are you feeling?"

"I… I don't know, I can't move that well and I… how did I get here?"

"What do you remember, sweetheart?"

"… Not much, I-I mean, I was startled to see white everywhere, you know I don't like hospitals and I've never actually been admitted to one inside an actual room."

His mother gave him a strange look but nodded eventually.

"You had a bit too much of something that was meant to help you, sweetie. It's completely my and Red's responsibility and I can't apologise enough for it, but… I guess it means little to you if you don't remember, but still…"

Her words dissolved into muttering and Ash couldn't follow what she was saying too well.

"Mom?"

"Oh, sorry!" she said, perking up. "I'll just go fetch the doctor, okay?"

"Euhm, sure," he answered, curious to know why he felt like he was strapped to the bed and wondered whether this doctor had an answer to it.

He would get it soon, the man apparently was on his way to this room anyway, seeing how his mom nearly bumped into him as soon as she opened the door. Ash was surprised to see this pretty nice looking person come in, his hair was all white, even his eyebrows and lashes and his skin was pretty pale too.

"Aaah, you're awake," the man said, smiling at him, which the teen mimicked straight away. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. And I can't move too well. I… I don't think I remember some things either, mom said some things that don't add up and I… Can I just say you're really pretty, sir?"

The man blinked but smiled even wider straight after.

"Of course, thank you. This is a first, getting such a compliment from the get-go. But, I'm glad you're still so eloquent, Ash."

"Was there a chance I wouldn't be able to speak too?" the teen asked as he frowned.

"Yes, you had a severe lack of oxygen in your blood. See, your brain needs air to function and when it doesn't get that, some things start to deactivate or only work half and half."

"Hah, I've had many people say my brain worked half and half even before this, so what if it's just three quarters to-" Ash joked, but got rudely cut off.

"Don't smile when you crack a self-deprecating joke, it doesn't sit well with me at all that you take so lightly to such an incredible insult."

The boy shut up right then and there. He'd just meant to put some levity into the situation, but apparently, this beautiful person had a less than a pretty sense of humour. Good to know.

"What do you remember?"

"Mom asked that too, but I don't know what point I started forgetting things. I mean, I remember snippets but… have I been here before? I'm not sure, but I remember this orange wall and a person with this slick brown hair, brushed to one side."

"Yes, you have been here, you just described dr. Martin. Do you remember that name?"

The boy winced but nodded, as he did somehow remember the man who had been a massive support to him and yet he couldn't help… feeling like there was something terribly wrong. Like this eerie ghost you _knew_ was there but couldn't see. Oh, God, what _had_ he forgotten?

"Does it hurt?"

"There's… something else," Ash answered, unable to describe what he was feeling.

"Worse or good?"

"Worse," he whispered.

The doctor nodded calmly and somehow tucked him back in.

"I think it's better if we give you some rest and allow your memories to come to you in relative peacefulness," the man said as if he knew what evil was lurking behind the horizon of Ash's memories.

Then again, if he had been here before, if he had already gotten acquainted with a doctor before… didn't that mean there had been a second accident? His mother sure looked like she'd lost some weight and he knew she had some difficulty following diets, so the only explanation was she had worried the weight straight off her. The realisation that he could the cause of this didn't make him feel any better and still… he was worried there might be more. His mom didn't often care about the things that scared _him_ , so what if there was something so horrible that had affected them _both_?

"I hope I can trust you to remain calm and collected throughout this?" the man asked, looking a bit peeved as he turned to Delia.

"Oh, yes, yes, of course," she answered, nodding along fervently.

The doctor looked at Ash one last time before leaving, but the boy was left with doubts. He knew his mom better than that, chances of her remaining calm were slim. He had seen how she had been texting someone before too and the chances of the receiver being Professor Oak were high. The man was slow in replying, which gave his mother lots of time to chew him out.

"Is everything okay, mom?" he asked, worried about her and the situation she might be involved in.

"Oh, sweetie, I've been so worried about you," she gushed, grabbing his hand and squeezing it just a bit too tight. "You were doing so well and then this happened…"

"I'm sorry, mom."

"Sweetheart, there wasn't anything you could have done and besides, it wasn't your responsibility. It wasn't Red's either, so it was his mistake, not yours."

The boy chewed the inside of his cheek for a bit, recognising his mother's finger-pointing technique alright.

"If it's not my mistake to notice getting too much medicine, why isn't it yours when you didn't notice it either? Besides, why wasn't I told why I needed the medicine? Why wasn't I allowed to take it myself?"

"It was to calm you down, sweetie and well, you've noticed what the wrong dosage can do to someone," the woman answered, though started to look a bit vexed already. "And the doctor clearly said he trusted _me_ to give it to you, I never counted on Red's meddling."

"He's my dad, he cares. That's not what meddling is. Also, I was calm. And I'm fine. I don't want more medicine."

"Yes, yes, well… perhaps dr. Lotus has a different opinion on what you need."

Oh, Ash knew what he needed. Some clear answers would be great right now. But no one seemed to know anything around here, which was a bit pathetic honestly. How could a mother _not_ know what he wanted…? Well, perhaps _his_ mother could. He had stopped telling her things for a reason after all and despite him not remembering everything, he did remember her vividly. As well as all her bad habits.

"Oh, Ash," she sighed, her hand still squeezing his quite hard. "There's been a development I wish I could keep from you, seeing you're still sick… But I feel like you need to know about it. I know you're so forgiving, too good for some people, that's why you've got so many friends and have gotten so much support from all over the world. I admire you for it, of course, you're a great son to have…"

The boy frowned.

"Well, why'd you stop? I'm very interested in myself too." he asked, not wanting to fall into his mother's trap.

There were people you _couldn't_ trust when they started handing out compliments. Just like a creepy dude handing candy to kids should be avoided like the plague.

"Sweetheart, I need you to make me a promise?"

"What for?"

"I need you to promise me you won't ever talk to Gary again."

"What?" Ash asked, frowning even deeper now. "What did he do now? Since when did you start going for Oak Junior?"

"He planned your funeral, Ash," she said, sighing deeply.

… Coming from Gary, it honestly didn't come as a surprise to him. If the other hadn't been told what had happened to him, just that he had landed in hospital, Ash knew he could count on Gary to dramatize it to the extreme. Living with a man who would automatically sign everything in reach and give affirmative grunts to any question, the teen knew that Gary needed to go to extreme lengths to get his grandfather's attention. Granted, with this funeral plan, he probably got a bit too much attention, but then again… This was the first time he remembered being in a hospital and whenever he got sick, it was usually for a day and he'd be up and running again the next.

If Gary hadn't seen him for a while, it wasn't that much a farfetched idea for him to assume this hospital was going to be his last stop, the teen had joined some adventures of 'his' kind before. That he was here because his parents overdosing him on medicine wasn't something he figured his mom had been telling everyone, so Gary must not have known about that. No, he probably only knew what had landed him in a hospital that first time Ash didn't remember. So yeah, he would _love_ to speak to Gary right now, he could count on the other to give him facts instead of fake tears and worried faces.

"What if he comes in here and I'm in bed, unable to move? What do I do then? Tell him to go away?"

"Yes," Delia answered.

"Gary's not listened to a word I said for eight years, mom. There's no way that'll ever work."

"I need you to take me seriously this time, Ash. He's been very mean to us and all you do is smile and laugh away the issues at hand, while everyone around you is suffering."

"I think you're overreacting, mom, surely it's not that bad that _everyone_ -"

"He took your pokémon from you, Ash and made you think it was professor Oak doing it!" she exclaimed. "He robbed your friends, taking advantage of the friendship they had with you to take money from them, under the guise that I couldn't pay for your funeral all by myself! And all you do is smile at me and tell me it's not that bad!? For goodness' sake, Ash, you need to grow up and realise this isn't okay! _God_ , I bet you would've handed him the shovel if he asked you to give it to him, to dig your grave."

"Mom, it's money, he can give it back and it's been a while since my pokémon were-"

"No! No, you need to stop this, Ash! You need to learn how to stand up for yourself!"

"I already know-"

"Do you?! _How_!? By telling me to calm down and let that boy ruin your life even more? To pretend that nothing happened? How can you ignore the fact he wants you dead, Ash!?"

"He probably never realise, mom, you know he's not good at dealing with emotions-"

"That boy is a criminal and I'm not allowing you to do this to yourself _or_ your friends again! And that's _final_!"

"Mom, how am I supposed to stand up for myself when you're not letting me say anything?" he asked, but sighed as he saw her heated glare. "Alright, fine, I won't talk to Gary. But I'm not gonna pretend like I understand why. I mean, he's a kid, like me-"

"He made a mistake and needs to be punished!"

Ash cringed, knowing he had made plenty of mistakes, in fact, he was making an awful lot right now. If he were to get punished for all of them… Ah, maybe that was why he was here. There wasn't any worse punishment possible than to lock him up somewhere, with his body unable to move. Alright, it would've made everything worse if they had taken Pikachu from him but still, this was bad enough.

"I can't promise you to ignore him, mom-"

She hadn't let him finish this time too, the sound of the slap she had just given him ringing in his ears. Tears sprung to his eyes but the woman didn't offer any explanation, stomping her feet as she grabbed her phone and slammed the room's door shut.

"Mom! MOM!?" he cried out, not understanding what had made her act out.

What was bothering her about this situation so badly? Yeah, stealing money was bad but you could always give it back, right? Gary wasn't an idiot, he'd know the situation would eventually be discovered but maybe that had been the point all along. Besides, where the hell was he gonna put the money? If he used it, there was always someone in Pallet who would know about it and then everyone would know in seconds. That was just the town they lived in, Ash was used to that kind of behaviour. But heck, this was just _money_. It wasn't the end of the world, right? Alright, it was a bit dark he'd used a funeral as an excuse, but Ash knew Gary well enough.

"Mom, he didn't mean it that way, please, listen to me!" he cried out but knew she was already too far away.

God, chances that the idiot had made up a story in his head to cope with his feelings, only to slowly start to believe in it, were high. Gary probably had meant to do well, but he hadn't been raised to be a Samaritan of any kind. But in light of that, his 'crime' didn't necessarily make him a criminal, much rather mentally unstable. Plenty of people had told Gary to find some help when he threw tantrums and shrieked for the whole town to hear when things didn't go his way… but how had they expected the teen to grow up as? Professor Oak was invested in his laboratory and hung over the boy as an evil shadow, scaring every possible person into giving Gary what he wanted. No one wanted beef with the important regional professor, right? Still, how could anyone expect him to be a good kid after being raised that way?

Ash was the only one who wasn't that scared of professor Oak, so that's why Gary respected him. Not exactly friends, they weren't similar enough to remain civil with each other for long. Both their upbringing had a lot to do with that, Ash was taught not to take shit from nobody and here came Gary know-it-all. Of course, they'd clash but there wasn't anything wrong with that, right? His mom, for example, had no friends and just acquaintances, for reasons previously displayed. Only professor Oak could stand her histrionics, but after this charade and the fact she probably had caused Gary to be arrested, might be the final straw for him to finally break.

'Man, what kind of a shitty situation is this?' the boy thought to himself as he sniffled, looking up at the ceiling.

That no one had come running in after his mother's screaming fit was strange, but perhaps his room was far away from the coffee machine. You know, the good one everyone tended to congregate around at break time? But hearing no sound whatsoever, he frowned at the ceiling for a moment. Ash got a weird déjà-vu but knew it hadn't had anything to do with this hospital that time-

"Ouch," he winced, feeling that his brain didn't agree with his pondering.

Still, his mom had left once already, hadn't she? After another argument over something stupid… Wasn't it food last time? But… Why was it so silent? Why couldn't he hear anything? His own heartbeat was the only sound he could hear and he could hear his own panic at his realisation that he was unable to move. Ash was trapped, he couldn't even look to his side to check if… was… Was that a blue light over there? No… N-not… not like that time, right?

"No," the boy uttered. "Please, Arceus… _Noooo_!"


	8. I Believe In A Thing Called Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my lovelies, how are you all doing?   
> I'm pleased with myself, it's not been too long since my last update! Hopefully, you'll like this chapter as much as I do, I know I certainly did my best. My inspiration came in the middle of what I had been planning, a friend of mine who I've not spoken to for a long while -seen, even longer thanks to the 'Situation'- suddenly contacted me again, so I felt like it would be nice to let that happen to Ash as well. It was a good feeling, to be remembered.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

Lance was hurrying over towards the hospital. He had just received a call from CPS, after having gone to aid with an intervention inside the hospital. It was only after his return towards his office that he realised the two cases were connected, he'd just come from the hospital too! A sad truth was playing out in front of him and he couldn't leave Ash on his own when it was clear both his mother and father were failing to provide. Red was… being real bizarre, Lance had sent him to have a bit of a chat with a different kind of therapist a good while ago, who had promptly decided to keep Red in view for a while. And now he had needed to drop off Delia as well, who seemed to be suffering from some kind of burn-out.

Honestly, he had wanted to smack some sense into her as well, but she claimed she didn't even remember screaming at Ash, or slapping him. Tough luck that a nurse had come in the exact moment when the woman had done it, so there was no way she could talk her way out of that one. But tch, he hated the kind of people who claimed they 'forgot' about something so important, it was the same tactic Giovanni had used for years and it had always allowed him to get away with the worst kind of crimes. That kind of things wasn't going to fly with him and besides, _if_ she had suffered from a blackout, she damn well needed the heavier type of help as well. This time, one of those sleazy therapists blaming everything on 'the kids and their behaviour' wouldn't cut it, as Ash's doctor was at the end of his tether. Lance understood all too well, hence why he was on his way to the hospital once more, to go see the boy's doctor.

"… Are you here on a case, sir?" the man asked, clearly confused to see him _again_ , this time specifically called to meet him.

"Ah, no, I'm sorry, I mean, I _am_ a police officer, I was here to pull one of your nurses off Mrs. Ketchum, after all. But I'm also the boy's uncle and I wanted to know if it was okay for you if I alerted CPS of my willingness to have Ash stay with me for the time being. Because I am _very_ willing to have him."

The doctor looked at him for a little while, as if to gouge whether or not he was being serious. Lance gave him some time to think about it, people usually were quick to judge but seeing what had happened recently... Well, he had also been one of the people Delia had fooled as well and even if she was innocent, that something else was at play, it still felt like he had been cheated on, all on the expense of a young man who had done nothing to deserved this treatment. Besides, he hadn't forgotten people were often intimidated by him and some even running off when he came near, so the man waited patiently until the doctor was done thinking.

"I see," the other man said, giving him a sharp look. "I hope I won't have to teach you to have some respect?"

"I only mean well for the boy, sir, I promise you that. I have no idea what my sister-in-law and brother have been thinking and I'm greatly disappointed, I mean, the idea that Delia hit her son, no matter the condition he was in, I… Hitting a child is _never_ the answer."

"Will you be able to come around often?"

"Absolutely, if my colleagues can take leave for their families on a whim, so can I. Besides, Ash is well-liked in the pokémon leave and his health is of great importance to all of them. I feel like you might see a couple of them coming by as well."

"Good," the doctor said. "We have already tried to bring the news to Ash but he's in disbelief, ready to forgive his mother and unwilling to have her punished. So please, avoid the subject at all cost, he is already in extreme distress right now."

"Did he respond that heavily to a mere hit?" Lance asked, his brow frowning in worry. "Surely not?"

"He expressed unease before his mother's tantrum. There was a tension between the two of them before as well… but still, even if the boy was somehow responsible for angering her, his condition excuses any sort of unruly behaviour instantly!"

"Of course, doctor, of course… Thought… the unease might come from the fact he and his mother… Well, I remember having been told they had a falling out just before Ash's accident happened, the one that ended up… permanently handicapping the boy."

"So she fails again…" the doctor sighed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, sir, I'm extremely distraught and disappointed. That his mother's hit jarred memories of such a traumatic incident is even worse news… and I'm afraid I can't trust you enough to leave you in the room on your own. There will be a nurse sitting alongside, to keep events in check. It's for the boy's safety, please understand."

"I do, doctor, I'm perfectly alright with whatever safety measure you decide on, I mean the best for Ash to and I will keep your opinion in regard too."

"Thank you, sir," the man said, sounding relieved. "I… assume your haste to talk to me stems from the fact you weren't willing to leave Ash in the hands of others?"

"I do like him. But I… never want him to feel rejected, not because of who he is, or his abilities."

"… Yes, true."

It was kind of laughable that the doctor assumed Ash would just go along with anyone. True, he was forgiving, but his mother had spurred some terribly unhealthy reactions inside the boy. That they had put a trainer inside a place they hated…? God, everyone seemed to forget they dumped ten-year-olds into such a cruel, unforgiving world, with just one, tiny pokémon at their side and then expect them to deal with whatever came on their way. This fourteen-year-old was completely independent by now and more importantly, Ash could get very destructive and worse even, secretive. Luckily, Ash was sociable and even more luckily, he had associated Lance with talking and actually getting stuff done. Granted, the man realised he had caused a great deal of hurt, but none of it would have happened if some grown adults had pulled their heads out of their asses and didn't leave a defenceless child to deal with the brunt of their frustrations!

Lance would be vocal about it and damn if the kid rejected him, but at least he had tried. He was convinced he had a better shot at getting the boy to accept him because well… a complete stranger? The nurses here had been an excellent example of how an ordinary person responded to the magical and Ash had gotten no feedback from his mother and father whatsoever. Tch, dr. lotus was a very naïve person alright, thinking Ash would accept just any kind of helping hand, without his mother in the picture. Whether or not she had been a bad mother, they had just taken the walls of his home, leaving the boy bare and alone. Because Ash didn't understand what it felt like, getting appreciated for just being there. He didn't get the normality every other pubescent teen screamed in frustration at because he had never been faced with it.

Besides, Ash's love for his and all other pokémon of the world could easily become on obsession and the kid was allowed to follow that path… but damned if that kind of habit didn't run in the family, Lance himself had made the same mistake years ago. Thinking life was better with just pokémon at his side. It had taken five years of war with team Rocket to understand that pokémon didn't necessarily need love or affection to respond to someone and it had hurt a lot, seeing Team Rocket abuse the pokémon who had _willingly_ left their trainers… but it had given him a good perspective of the difference between good and bad. So yeah, he knew what signs to look out for and what things he shouldn't say to the boy… but it all depended on Ash whether it would ever work and if he would even need to use the knowledge.

He didn't want to worry too much, Agatha always told him his worries showed up on his face and Ash was just as good at reading people, mostly because well… when kids feared a certain response, they would look out for it, seeing all the rest of it too. The doctor wasn't talkative either, stomping through the hallway, his white coat billowing in motion as he walked. But as the man rounded the corner, coming to a stop in front of a room, an explosion sounded out close by. Lance had run towards the doctor to catch him, getting only the faintest glimpses of a world of reds and golds, before the colours dissipated, leaving nothing but a strange kind of black soot behind.

"W-what… What was that?" dr. Lotus stammered, scrambling to his feet.

Lance helped him up, also startled, but _very_ concerned for his nephew. They ran inside the room, straight through the soot and the man very much tried to ignore the nurses soiled with it, because it would be a shame to laugh at these people who were doing their jobs as well as this. They were desperately trying to locate the source of the explosion, but it was hard because everything was covered with the soot.

"Damn, damn, triple damn!" the doctor exclaimed. "Everyone, get out. Mr. Lance, can you carry the patient, please? The nurse will follow you with the IV drip."

"Yes, yes, of course."

He understood the urgency to move out of this room, if something was on the verge of exploding, it wouldn't do to keep a patient inside that some area. But he was kind of an expert on explosions, Lance had followed detonation classes and how to defuse stuff. Yeah, police sometimes blew things up to make the training feel like a real situation… yet, he had _never_ encountered an explosion with those peculiar colours before. Of course, he had not seen a lot of it, just the end, so it was possible the detonation had pulled something along with it. Nevertheless, it was strange enough but it was going to be something he was going to keep in mind. His instinct was telling him something was up and he'd _always_ trusted it to get him out of any situation. This time, it would not be different.

* * *

Daisy had enough of this waiting game, which was only causing more grief to her sister than the good it was supposed to bring. It had been a week since she had called Mrs. Ketchum and since then, there had been no reply despite the woman's promise to contact her again. Misty's initial happiness at hearing Ash wasn't dead at all was quickly fading because she'd not gotten any proof of it yet. And any calls Daisy made to Mrs. Ketchum's number weren't answered, so she did the next best thing. She took the bus towards Pallet Town, to go and speak to the woman herself. She counted her blessings when the bus driver didn't stop or feel like taking a detour and drove straight to Pallet… but as she reached the house, she noticed all the blinds were closed and the whole house looked… pretty desolate. Ringing the doorbell or knocking the door gave no response, which made her huff in annoyance.

"Well, this sucks," she said to herself.

There really wasn't anyone around, one of the reasons she disliked Pallet Town so much. You could walk around in your birthday suit, _deliberately_ trying to pull attention to you and no one would notice. But oh, if you wanted to keep it a secret, then somehow, everyone would be interested. It was the kind of two-faced people she disliked and for that reason, she didn't have a contact here… Unless…

Her new plan of action took her to go towards professor Oak's laboratory, surely the man would be home, right? It would just be her luck that today would be one of those rare, full-closures of the place, right? However, as she approached the building, Daisy heard nothing except the sounds of nature.

"You're kidding me," she groaned, realising that the laboratory was indeed closed today.

"Huh?" a voice said, causing the young woman to look down and see the professor crouched down on his knees, probably tending to some of the plants in his garden, from the looks of it.

"Oh, hello, professor!"

"… Daisy? My girl, what brings you all the way here?" professor Oak asked, straightening with a bit of difficulty.

"I was actually meaning to talk to Mrs. Ketchum, but it looks like there's no one home."

"That's possible, yes. I'm not entirely aware of Ash's unfortunate accident this time around, Delia has been very scarce with information, which is her very right… But it leaves me with very little to tell you."

"Anything would be good right now, actually," Daisy said eagerly. "Misty's not doing well at all."

"Yes, I can imagine, I… The funeral business, hm?"

"Yeah, I called Mrs. Ketchum for that one, she wasn't happy at all. But I needed facts, my sister's suffering greatly."

"… I'm sorry, there's not much I can tell you, Daisy," the man repeated, clearly not going to invite her into the house, for some reason. "Delia wasn't happy with me, as such, she hasn't said anything. All I know is that one of my assistants saw Ash alive and fairly well, a good two weeks ago, I think. Other than that, I just was a witness to the intervention that happened to take Ash back to the hospital, with a helicopter."

"Oh…"

"I'm sorry, Daisy."

'Sure,' she thought, saying her goodbyes to the man.

It was clear something was bothering professor Oak to the extent he wasn't even willing to sit with her for a while, but if he rather wanted to sit hunched over his weeds all day, so be it then. Daisy sure knew she wasn't going to come back to this place any time soon, even if Misty begged her to. And the next bus to Cerulean wasn't coming by for three hours, so she was going to need to go home on foot too. You could say she had a bit of a mood by the time she was in Viridian and she absolutely was _not_ looking forward to walking through Viridian forest. That Daisy suddenly saw Mr. Lance's car, was nothing but a relief.

"Yoohoo!" she exclaimed, waving her arm to get his attention.

She succeeded and the car swerved her way, parking a little bit further.

"Miss Waterflower?" Lance asked, rolling down the window. "Is something the matter?"

"I know you're probably heading a different way, but I don't suppose you could give me a lift to Cerulean?"

"… If you can stand sitting in the car for a bit, yes, I suppose so."

"Sure!" she said, happy with this stroke of luck.

Lance, however, wasn't a man with many jokes and Daisy knew better than to start a conversation, knowing the man would shut her up and chide her for mindless blabbing… But she couldn't stop herself when the man drove back into Pallet.

"God, that place again," she groaned.

"Oh?"

"I had a moment with professor Oak just now, that's all."

"I don't think he will be in a happy mood anytime soon, with his grandson in a reformatory, as well as doing community service in Celadon Central," Lance answered, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Reformatory? Community service? What on earth did he do?"

"Fraud, mostly. I'm sure your youngest sister would have been contacted to fund a funeral?"

"O-oh… Oh, yeah, professor Oak isn't going to be happy with _me_ for a long time either, I totally told him I was the one who complained to Mrs. Ketchum about it," Daisy confessed.

"Don't feel bad about it, things like these come out someday. Gary is a young fool for thinking he could keep it a secret and the professor an old one for holding you responsible for his failure at raising the kid right. I can only hope either two are still perceptible for help, or I fear I won't let my nephew set one foot in Pallet as a whole."

"It's a bloody hellhole, that place," she grumbled. "I might not know your nephew, but I'd understand your decision to keep him away from this town."

"Is that so?" the man chuckled. "Then, you would be the first person inside the pokémon league who has never met Ash. That I know of, at least."

The young woman paused.

"Oh, I know _him_ alright… How is he your nephew?"

"It's not that hard, his father is my brother," Lance answered, clearly finding her confusion amusing.

"… Can I ask you for a bit more information, then? I mean, my sister is heading straight for depression, at the rate she's been hiding in the her room all day."

"Of course, you can," the man answered, as he parked the car right in front of the Ketchum family's house. "Later, though."

"Sure! Misty's going to be ecstatic if she's got my word to vouch for what poor Tracey has been saying all along, oh, Mr. Lance, kids can be so cruel sometimes. The poor kid was verbally murdered and Gary even got into it, getting angry for spreading lies, while the idiot was the biggest liar out of all of them!"

"Ironic. But, if that's how you feel about it, why not allow me to pick up your sister in Cerulean and take her to see Ash herself. Seeing a couple of familiar faces might do him some good. Then again, make sure she can compose herself, he's upset as it is."

"Oh, yes, yes, she's just gonna fall asleep next to him, I know that much. Kid's not been sleeping properly for weeks and he's like her rock in life… But what happened to get him back in the hospital anyway?"

"His brilliantly stupid parents somehow managed to miss each other giving him his daily dose of medicine, which ended up in a severe overdose of the stuff. He was brought back to the hospital with seizures and he was unconscious for a while. And just when he wakes, his mom hits him in the heath of an argument about something. But then again, Ash is not the _only_ one upset, so there you have it."

"You're joking… Surely she's lost custody of the kid now."

"Yes, for now, indeed so. That's why I'm going to pick up some of his stuff," Lance answered. "Why don't you contact your sister in the meantime?"

"Yes! Yes, I will!"

In fact, Daisy was already fumbling with her phone when the man entered the house, happy to finally have unravelled this story. Oh, this was going to be such a nice surprise for Misty, if this wouldn't cheer her up, Daisy couldn't think of anything else that would do the job. While her little sister seemed a bit dubious about her sudden and rather strange request, Misty agreed eventually and would be waiting at the bench straight in front of the Gym for the mystery pick-up.

If anything, the young woman was happy to have met Lance in such a good mood, he hadn't asked her to shut up once… but then again, he had said there were others who were upset too. If his brother had nearly poisoned his nephew, yeah, if any of her sisters had a kid and they'd do the same, murder was underway. And Ash was such a nice kid too, a bit dumb at times, but he'd give you the shirt of his back when needed to. That much she'd already gathered and she's seen it too. Daisy knew she and her sisters had been bratty when they first met and yeah, he'd almost fallen for it, but not without frowning at it and questioning it. And he had still helped them afterwards, so yeah…

"There we go."

She looked up and smiled when she saw the man carrying two heavy looking bags, with a massive Gengar plush on top.

"That's a big plush toy."

"Gift from Agatha."

"I should've guessed that, given the pokémon" Daisy chuckled. "Need a hand?"

"You're free to try. But let me warn you, I shoved everything I could find in that bag, it's heavy and it's a right mess."

And the young woman did regret it the moment the man let go of the one bag she had offered to carry. Oh, she made it to the back of the car alright, but she'd be feeling this for a while.

"Okay?" Lance asked, looking bemused by her silent lamenting.

"Yeah."

"Then, let's go."

* * *

Misty wasn't feeling up too much and she certainly didn't know how to feel about her sister showing up in the car of the Johto Champion… with the Johto Champion behind the wheel -though that was good, because her sister wasn't a good driver at all. She got no explanation whatsoever, just got told to get inside the car, which she did but as soon as she got in the back, she was greeted by this massive Gengar toy, with this huge grin… and now the girl was stuck with the idea of the Champion enjoying a good hug from a plush. However, as the car passed by some landmarks Misty recognised, her heart started beating a bit quicker. She had lived her whole life in Cerulean and knew the way to Celadon by heart, she's spent so many shopping trips on the bus to and back.

"Are you taking me to see Ash?" she asked, holding onto the back of her sister's seat, grabbing Daisy's shoulder.

"Yes. Though you need to be careful with him, okay?"

"… He's not okay?"

"There's a couple of issues but everything considered, nothing should stop you from giving him a hug, Misty," Lance answered. "Or talk. He's very vocal."

"Oh…"

She stayed silent the rest of the ride, mostly because the man had given her a sharp look through the back mirror. Possibly because she'd loosened her seatbelt, which she popped back into place real soon after Lance had noticed it. But ooh, if only she could have a little moment, ask something… maybe even record something, that could make some of Ash's other friends realise that Tracey wasn't lying.

"What happened to Gary, then?"

"It's better if you don't know yet. Ash might ask you as well and I don't want to upset him."

"… That sounds ominous."

"Misty, kiddo, you can't scam money of people over every damned region in this world and expect to get off with a slap on the hand," Daisy said.

"Oh… Right."

Still, ominous. Was Ash seriously going to ask her about Gary, though? Like, the number of times they had actually talked about the idiot was when the idiot was actually around them. Ash didn't talk behind someone's back that often, even though Gary had left traces and insults for Ash to see all over Kanto. By now, the original Cerulean City sign had been replaced, since other hooligans had found reason in Gary's idiotic scribbling to add the vilest messages and images on it, but yeah, she knew Ash and Gary weren't really friends. Something in the middle, perhaps, but not friends. That Gary never even bothered to do some research, check on Ash while the other's mother lived across the street… it was as stupid as heck. Real friends didn't do that kind of shit.

"Right, we're here. Why don't you all go inside already? I'm going to sift through some stuff in the back," Lance said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Sure!" Daisy answered. "Come on, Misty, let's get going."

The girl had almost ran towards the entrance and only halted because her sister had grabbed her shoulder, reminding her yet again to take it easy but it was so hard. Ash was somewhere in here, if she saw him, those nightmares could stick it! There was no reason to dream about him dying when he was alive, right?

"Hi, can you please tell me where we can find Ash Ketchum, please?"

"I'm sorry, I cannot give you his location without his current guardian's approval."

"… His 'current guardian' is collecting the kid's underwear 'n stuff in his car. Maybe you can alert the doctor we're at least here already?" Daisy asked.

"I will have to wait for his guardian's approval, Miss."

"Well, we'll go and wait over there, then," she said and guided Misty to one of the chairs, somehow managing not to give the nurse the stink eye.

"It's okay, a couple of minutes won't matter," Misty said, trying to get her clearly peeved sister to calm down a bit.

"Girl, I'm not making a scene because I know you're going to come here again."

"Oh… What did she mean, though? With the current guardian? Did something happen to Mrs. Ketchum?"

"Shit always happens, sis, this was just a big one," Daisy answered, sighing deeply before continuing. "I don't think we ought to tell Ash anything, other than asking how he is and just cuddle for a while. There's a lot going on for him right now and well…"

"He's lost her? Daisy, Mrs. Ketchum is gone?"

"No, sis, she's just someplace they'll help her get back on her feet, just like they're helping Mr. Ketchum. Try not to think too hard about it, Ash's got Lance to look after him now, he'll be fine."

More than fine, not even the tiniest of pokémon could come in without Lance noticing. Misty didn't think Ash's temperament was a good fit for the man who was very attached to his peacefulness though. So unless her friend had learned how to sit still and be patient, it wasn't going to end well.

"It'll be fine, sis, don't worry."

"Easy for you to say, you know the truth."

"And I'll tell you everything when we're home, but we can't risk it."

"Indeed not," a voice said, causing both Misty and Daisy to look up. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm the doctor tending to Ash Ketchum, dr. Lotus."

"… Nice to meet you, doctor," Daisy said but was looking a bit _too_ interested in the man.

He, however, promptly ignored that and turned to Misty, with a small smile.

"I've heard from a colleague that Ash's been trying to get a hold of you for a while, so I'm glad to see you here as well, Miss Waterflower," the doctor said softly.

"He has? How don't I know about that, then?"

"I'm not sure, but you can ask him yourself a bit later, I'm just waiting for Mr. Lance. However, allow me a moment to express how _dire_ it is to not stress the boy?"

"… Why is that so important? What's he gonna do? Explode?"

"Err… Yes, exactly."

" _What_?!"

"I know it sounds strange, Miss Waterflower, but he's… a bit special and we found no other reason for the explosion that happened earlier today. And that soot is a right mess too, my patient unwillingly destroyed over a hundred fifty thousand pokédollars worth of machinery."

"He's not going to be able to pay that back, is he?" Daisy asked, frowning heavily.

Misty didn't blame her, it was all sounding a bit ludicrous to her. But this man seemed absolutely serious about it, in fact, his collar had a bit of that soot on it.

"He won't have to, one of the nurses err… 'found' something, which apparently short-circuited the rest."

"I see…"

"The boy's got enough to worry about, anyway," the doctor grinned nervously. "But please, be mindful. I can't stress the importance of this any further."

Just as Daisy was going to tell this man to sod off with his nonsense -Misty recognised that kind of look-, Lance came into the lobby, carrying a smaller bag, as well as the big Gengar plush in one arm. The girl was amazed to see it was actually Ash's, she never imagined him to be the cuddly type either. Well, not without a _real_ pokémon to cuddle, anyway. Still, with all kinds of thoughts running through her head, she followed Lance towards the room- Daisy stayed behind, saying just one look at her could upset Ash right now and that she wasn't going to take the risk.

"Is she okay?" Lance asked.

"Wha…? You mean, Daisy?"

"Yes."

"She's only affected because of me. She doesn't really like Ash."

"I see."

Yeah, Misty didn't believe that either, next time, she would drag Daisy with her. But maybe she was right, maybe three _was_ a crowd right now. Passing a room that was being cleaned and looked to be a bit dirty still, with the same black stuff stuck on dr. Lotus' shirt, Misty also realised that the doctor had _actually_ been serious. And that they had just passed the room Ash had exploded in. As if this day couldn't get any weirder, huh?

"Here we go. Easy does it," Lance said, opening the door ever so gently. "Ah…"

The girl didn't really see why the man had suddenly smiled until she got to the bed herself and saw her friend snuggled up in a blanket. She could just see a bit of his face, but it was clear enough he was asleep. Asleep but _alive_ , which was important to her.

"He's not asleep, he's just tired," the nurse at the side supplied and as if on cue, the boy opened his eyes.

"… Mist? Is this real? Lance?"

"I'm real alright," the girl said, chuckling through the tears brimming in the corners of her eyes.

Lance was quick to lower the bar at the side of the bed, allowing Misty to climb in the bed, right next to Ash, who was still looking at her in disbelief.

"You look like shit, Mist," he said.

"Ash," she started, but he wasn't having any of it.

"Mist, I'm _excused_. I'm not here for fun and giggles."

"… Lance was right, you _are_ vocal."

The boy's eyes looked at the man for a bit, before looking back at her.

"Mist, don't change the subject. Gary did something to y'all, didn't he? That's why Tracey burst out crying when he saw me, isn't it?"

"Ash, I can't excite you in any way."

"I know, I explode, I'm sorry. I know I'm going to have to hear it a lot," the teen grumbled. "But that was different. I was back in Viridian forest, I saw those creatures again. I'm scared of them… But I'm not there now. I'm here, with you. I'm not gonna explode, I feel fine. Talk to me, Mist, before I find out myself."

"And how would you do that, hm?"

"I've got time to think."

"Don't hurt yourself, m'kay?"

"Oh, no, I'll wait 'till I see Gary."

"… He's getting punished already, Ash."

"Good. I hope they locked him up somewhere far away, because if mom gets to him. She was foaming at the mouth, Mist, I hardly recognised her."

"Ash, I'm not supposed to talk about that to you."

"But it's all connected, I _know_ it is… Is it because he told you I was dead?"

"… You know?"

"Mist, the entire hospital knows, my mom was loud and angry."

Misty glanced at Lance, who looked a bit exasperated about this situation and she noticed the nurse was keeping a close eye on Ash all of a sudden, actually straightening.

"Well yeah, fine. I kept having nightmares about it."

"Oh, Mist-"

"It's fine. Now shut up and be cute, I wanna hug you."

Ash did shut up, much to her amazement, but then again, if he had been trying to reach out to her as well…

"I wouldn't know what to do without you, Ash," she confessed, ever so softly, so that only the boy could hear her.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"You can't promise me that."

"Ask Brock who I saved from some magical mud and dare come say that to my face again."

She chuckled, she didn't think magical mud actually existed but you _bet_ she was going to talk to Brock. The moment she got home, she was _so_ going to contact everyone!

"Picture?"

"You wanna remember me looking like this?"

"Absolutely."

"Buddy?" Ash suddenly asked.

Pikachu's head _slowly_ peeked out from under the blanket, appearing right next to the boy's face, looking terribly sleepy.

"Oh!"

"Figured I needed to up my game a bit," he chuckled.

Misty couldn't help but grin along, her cheeks were already hurting too. She had honestly expected to be bawling her eyes out, but Ash was being such a little shit about this. Man, she should've expected him to be on top of things, he had nothing better to do than meddle and overthink stuff. He was always in the middle of some kind of nonsense too, why had she expected something different this time around? Nevertheless, him being like this… Having such unshakeable proof would surely convince everyone.

"Smile for me."

And smile he did, it was impossible to replicate that kind of smile without being happy. What was all this nonsense this doctor was talking about? Sure, maybe Ash was intimidated by all these mugs around him, but they had history together. He wouldn't explode on her. Verbally, perhaps but never in whatever way he'd destroyed all that machinery.

"Talk to the others for me, will you?"

"Why not you, then? How didn't I notice you were trying to call me either?"

"Didn't have my transceiver with me, I only could call the Gym number at around four. Couldn't get a hold of any of you, just hit voicemail all the time. So… please?"

"Until you've got your transceiver, yes, of course."

"… Mist, I… I can't actually move."

And that bloody nurse just had to go into detail on what had actually happened and how Ash was going to need movement therapy to get his mobility back. She hadn't even noticed the worst bit until the very last part of the explanation from the nurse, namely the leg. Or rather, the lack of it. The man at the side had mentioned a prosthesis and she'd wondered what the heck for and then she had looked down and well… Misty took a deep breath and _then_ burst out crying, hugging her friend close.

"Hey, now, it's fine. I'll be okay, Mist, I promise. These doctors know their thing and I… Maybe it'll be better, now that I have someone who's got my back. You know mom was a bit half and half, right?"

"Ash, she was either nothing or everything," the girl sighed, wiping at her face, to get rid of the tears but still upset nonetheless. "That she hurt you like this, I… I'm not forgiving her."

"Then don't. You can feel however you want about it, but don't let it ruin your day, Mist," Ash said, almost pleading with her. "Please, be okay for me. I missed you too, I don't want my mom getting in the middle of us."

"I'm not gonna let her, who does she think she is?"

"My mom? She knows she sucks, she told me so. And then my dad happened. And then Gary came along and ruined whatever healing she'd done. Seeing me hurt really knocked her off her pedestal, Mist, there was no right or wrong, she wasn't allowed to judge, she needed to leave me in other people's hands and losing that kind of control must've… Man, I hope they teach her when it's good to care a bit too much."

"And you?"

"What about me?"

"How do you feel about this?"

"Sucks balls, Mist," he admitted and chuckled when she did. "For real, I'm looking all cosy in this heated blanket right now, but it all still sucks big time."

"Am I helping?"

"Tons. Are you coming by again?"

"Absolutely, you're not gonna get rid of me now that I know where you're at."

Ash seemed pleased with that and somehow, when it was time to go, Misty felt tons better. His cheek had proved he was in good enough health alright and while he was right about his situation not being the best right now, she knew she could count on him to make the best out of it too. Little did she know that, when she left, she left a very uncertain Champion behind. But Misty didn't care, she was on cloud nine, things couldn't have gone any better for her. And oh, she had things to tell people, good thing she had Daisy to guide her in the right direction by dragging her along by the arm, because she was too busy chatting with all of Ash's friends in that group chat, sending that picture to everyone and telling them just what a big fat liar Gary had been all along.

* * *

"… Are you okay, Lance?" Ash asked, after seeing the man nervously pick at his sleeve, after the _long_ silence that happened after Misty had left.

He didn't know what was going on to make a normally steady guy this nervous, but he was still on his happy cloud. _God_ , what he would have given to talk to Misty _months_ ago… She had come at a perfect time, he felt so much better seeing she was okay. Tired and a bit emotionally drained, but okay. And Misty had promised to return, which meant the world to him. Last thing he needed was someone bringing bad news.

"I… I hope you don't mind that you're going to be staying with me once you're released, Ash."

"You heard me say I was happy to have someone who had my back, though?"

"Yeah but…"

"I like you, Lance, I'm stoked to have a cool uncle like you," Ash said, in disbelief that Lance was doubting himself. "And I know you can put up with me, you train dragons and I've got a couple too and… Well, there's a reason why mom won't let me have them at the house."

The man deflated, sinking back in the chair and leaning heavily on the mattress -the rail of the bed was still lowered, Misty never thought of putting it back up.

"You have no idea how much this means to me," Lance admitted.

"I get it, some people like you and some don't. But I like you, Lance."

"And I'd let you have your dragons in the house. I mean, if they can stand up for themselves."

"Wait 'till you lay your eyes on Gible, he… Oh, that's right, there were two pokéballs," the boy said, perking up because he remembered.

Now that he'd just told Misty about his err… moist reunion with a very tearful Tracey, he just remembered that his friend had delivered two pokéballs. But then the medicine had kicked in and he'd lost sight of them! Oh no, what had become of them?

"Don't worry, kiddo, I found them. I brought them with me," Lance said, bending over to the bag and pulling out the two pokéball. "I'll keep them on the nightstand-"

Whether it was an accident or a malfunction of the pokéball, Gible suddenly released itself. Right on the bed too. Only, the pokémon was facing Lance, instead of Ash and hoh, the boy knew what was going to happen, especially when Lance reached out towards Gible.

"Gible, _no_!" he called out.

The small dragon responded immediately, calmed down by the voice of his trainer… but had stopped mid-bite. Lance quickly pulled his hand away from the danger zone.

"That… That's very impressive, Ash," he said, blinking in surprise when the Gible settled down right next to Ash, not the slightest bit deterred that the pokémon was giving him the stink eye. "Stopping any pokémon mid-bite is a feat, but it's a real power-trip to stop a Dragon-type from doing it."

"I don't remember him being so aggressive," the boy said. "Gah, I wish I could reach out to you, Gible, but I can't. I'm sorry, buddy."

"Gib," it just answered.

"Oh…"

"What?" Lance asked.

"He knows," Ash deadpanned. "I bet they heard every word my mom shouted at professor Oak. Maybe even heard what Gary was up to."

"You understand the Gible?"

"Pretty much, I mean, it's got a lot to do with expression and how they say it."

"That's very interesting, I think I'm going to enjoy spending time with you, Ash. You're a very cool kid too."

"Aww, thanks! I'm planning on sticking around for a while too."

"Not going on a journey anytime soon, then?"

Ash blinked.

"… What do you mean? Would someone really be ready to lumber me all around a region in a wheelchair or am I seeing this the wrong way?"

"Well, no, but yeah, I mean, you could be carried in one of those Pika-taxi's, from Gym to Gym. You'd be able to make it."

That sounded more like a chore than a journey to Ash.

"Err… Thanks but no thanks. I wouldn't want to burden anyone with that task, I mean… I like going to places, meeting all kinds of new people and pokémon. I feel like it would be a real mistake, completing a Gym challenge that way. Besides, have I been the only one who was told not to stress a billion times in the last few hours? I don't even have the strength to throw a pokéball… No, no, it's fine, I'm good. I wanna get to know you better too, Lance."

Lance chuckled at that but not too soon after that, Ash felt a certain tenseness leave him. It had started just before his uncle had made that suggestion and now the boy was stuck with the idea that Dialga had been watching him, waiting for the wrong answer, to send him back in the past or something, unwilling for him to make that kind of mistake. Chances that it was actually the case were high, the small Dialga toy wasn't here, but Ash had been told about the soot. Many times, the nurses had been complaining about the stuff non-stop. Maybe the poor thing had gotten covered by it and had left to take a bath or something.

But ah, at least his uncle had calmed down and was looking like his old self again, instead of the worrywart that had come into this room. Ash had it with all that worrying, he wanted to look towards the future and be positive. He'd spend enough time being gloomy and dull… and even if he was tired right now, didn't mean he couldn't wait to see his coach Brandon again and spend each day in hopes of getting better again. Maybe he'd never become the boy he had been before all these accidents, but hey, eighty percent was alright for him, if it meant he could still be around people and do what he wanted to. Maybe even fifty percent, he'd settle for fifty if he was still okay enough. Maybe just the fact he'd be able to move his hand again, that'd be great, because gah, a life without being able to pet a pokémon?

"I see you have not yet lost your sense of humour, Chosen. Consider me pleased."

Ash looked up and smiled at the pokémon who had appeared next to his bed. It hadn't been long since Lance had left and it was funny the nurse who had taken vigil over him, had just left for a small break. But he'd said he was going to come back real soon, so put away all the stuff Lance had brought along.

"Oh yeah, always a clown, alright."

"Better a clown that a fool, I say," Mewtwo answered. "How are you feeling?"

"… You're here because of that explosion thing too, aren't you?"

"Yes. But I am also concerned about your welfare too, Chosen. The amnesia was unfortunate and your kin… even less so. For a mother to react so out of bounds, Chosen, know that, in the pokémon world, she would have been killed and eaten."

"Then I'm glad she's not a pokémon," Ash chuckled, knowing already that everyone but him was taking offence to his mom's behaviour. "But I'm good, thanks for asking, Mewtwo."

" _Are_ you? Am I mistaking in believing you are not incredibly bothered by your inability to move? Are you not angry at the young fool who ruined years' worth of relationships? That you had to sit and watch someone grieve, unable to help?"

"… Ah, you want details, huh?" Well, then yes, yes and yes. I'm annoyed, angry and upset. But I'm also scared and relieved, confused and happy, all at the same time. I'm feeling all kind of things I've never felt before and _yeah_ that worries me, but I'm okay with it. It's weird but I guess I'm just a bit stranger than most. More than I used to be."

"Maybe so," Mewtwo answered. "But looking into one's self and noticing change does not always correspond with what is actually making you feel a certain way. There are bigger things at play and I wish to help. And I cannot do that if you are not completely honest with me."

"I don't know what more I can tell you."

"Then why realise I am here for the explosion if that does not worry you?"

"I'm not letting myself get riled up like that again. If mom ever hits me again, I'll shove her away. But I couldn't do that now, I can't move. I'm more worried about my 'inability to move'," he said, mimicking the way Mewtwo had so eloquently put it. "-than the fact, some people complain about not getting some soot out of their clothes."

"Very well."

"Why? Shouldn't I explode?"

"Humans, no. You? Questionable. It is nothing short of a miracle you came out of it unscathed, Chosen, you should be thankful for your own resilience."

"Resilience? With like, half a leg? Come off it, Mewtwo, you can't be serious."

"I am taking this very serious, Chosen."

"A bit too much, I think."

"… You do not enjoy it, I see that. I apologise."

"For caring? Nah, it's fine. Just… don't grill me for answers I don't have," Ash sighed. "I might feel a bit different to you than other people, but I'm nowhere as smart as you. I've got my moments but they're far and few in between."

"As befitting of a clown, I would say," Mewtwo stated, with a sigh. "I feel like I should mention again that exploding is very harmful in nature and it is everything I would not have associated with you. Not even Arceus knows and yet we all felt it. Very violent. Very angry. You are harnessing great anger inside of this small body of yours, Chosen, I fear the day someone releases it in you."

"Doesn't have to come out at once, though."

The pokémon stared at the boy.

"You are aware."

"Of course. I'm always angry at something," Ash murmured. "But I wasn't angry when I exploded."

"Is that so? I felt anger."

"What are you feeling right now?" the boy asked but felt _so_ disappointed when Mewtwo looked away from him. "I was _right_! You _are_ scared of me! You're even forcing yourself not to come into contact with me now! Which goes against your nature of a Psychic-type- No! Stop that, Mewtwo, that's not good for you. You know I would never hurt you? Why?"

"Fine!" the creature exclaimed… and stared at the teen, clearly having reactivated its psychic senses. "I… I am sorry, Chosen. I am very sorry, I never meant to make you feel that way."

"Why does it always have to be me? Why do I always need to be something special but like, the wrong kind of special? I thought it was cool, I thought I could… But now even you are scared of me."

"Talk to me, Chosen," the pokémon urged. "There must be an explanation, it does not make sense to me our experiences vary so greatly. I know you would not hurt anyone, you said it yourself, even if your mother hit you again, you would not even hurt her back! A shove is nothing to be compared with a deliberate slap in the face and I am confused."

"I said that I wasn't angry when I exploded too. I wanted them to go away. I… I thought the nurses were the pokémon who attacked me. And I don't want to hurt them either, I just… wanted them to leave. That's all," Ash admitted, looking away from Mewtwo. "I mean, I didn't even think it was me, I didn't explode."

"Then what did?"

"I think it was my Aura. It's red too, isn't it? Doesn't that mean aggression?"

"Let me relieve you from this misconception, the colour of your Aura has nothing to do with its power, abilities or the nature of its user. The only way I can explain the colour of your Aura is that it could be hereditary."

"But I had blue Aura before."

"Did you have contact with all the kin you have contact with right now?"

"… No?"

"Well, then," the pokémon said. "Nevertheless, red Aura is rare, I would love a demonstration when you're able to… But are you _sure_ it was an Aura explosion?"

"Yeah, you can see I'm fine, right? And none of the nurses were injured either. One was even gushing on about how pretty it was _before_ getting covered with soot, with all the red and gold she saw and-"

"Gold?" Mewtwo repeated.

"Yeah, that's what she said."

"… I may have found a fool, after all."

Ash watched the pokémon carefully, as it brought a paw up to its face.

"Who's the fool, then?" he asked.

"Arceus. It gives you part of Itself and then forgets the effect It can have on you."

"Come again?"

"Arceus saved you by giving you part of Its Aura, Chosen. I did not think It had given you so much it would show but it is clear that it does show up, if anyone can see it. No wonder your own Aura is capable of _much_ more forceful defence tactics than that of the ordinary children, then, if it mixed with Its prowess. And after all, the young with Aura are protected from harm, kept close by their family… While you… You have been pulled from one side to another, left for dead, sliced, hurt… Everything a family of Aura users would have avoided."

"Is it bad?"

"For a normal family, yes, because they would want nothing more than have an ordinary child, who would not get noticed by anyone. They avoid letting the child use their Aura, for the more you use it, the stronger it gets. While you… You will become a beacon for anyone who can see Aura, even without you using it. It _is_ possible it will show up on your body too."

"…Is _that_ bad?"

"Not exactly, it is different."

"Good different?"

"I will not complain," Mewtwo stated. "I like you. I would not be here otherwise. And for the record, I was still not scared of you. I was scared of what you could have become, thanks to Arceus' interference. Some people do change when helped, whether or not they were the best of people around. But I am glad, you are the same, thankfully."

"Don't you think I would've been kicked out of this hospital if I had like, hurt these nurses, though?"

Mewtwo clearly hadn't been thinking about that, but honestly, if it had been influenced by a past experience with someone it previously had liked, only to get turned onto, Ash could understand why it hadn't been thinking straight. It was actually nice to see this normally stoic pokémon worry for him, though, again, he was kind of sick of having people worry about him all the time. But the creature seemed relieved and promise that, once there was no danger of being caught, it would actually teach him how to deal with his pretty potent psychic powers. Mewtwo remembered its promise to teach him something similar to Scary Face, but with so many people around who were already on the verge of freaking out about the slightest details, it was better not to stick around too long… Or to teach the boy something that would possibly make them even jumpier.

* * *

The nurse had come in at the same moment the pokémon had teleported away too, so that was on the nick of time. Ash was good at acting as if nothing had happened and smiled warmly at the young man, who seemed pleased by his attention. The nurse made quick work of putting the clothes away too, but Ash couldn't get any happier when he noticed Lance had taken his transceiver with him!

"Ah, please, put it on the cabinet, please," he said. "I can't use it now, but I'm going to use it later."

"I'll put it in the drawer then, yes? Someone might knock it off by accident and it doesn't look like it'll survive the drop."

"That's fine, thank you."

"No problem," the young man said. "Can I compliment you on the Gible, though, Ash?"

"… Sure, he's cool, isn't he?"

"Very, this is the first time I've ever seen a Gible up close. I… don't suppose I can pet it?"

Ash smiled when Gible sniffed loudly at that, causing the nurse to recoil a bit.

"It's okay, he doesn't mind."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just be careful, he's got Rough Skin."

"… Wha… Like Sandpaper?"

"Worse. Just be nice, it'll be okay."

The nurse nodded and hesitantly laid a hand on the pokémon's head. While Gible looked anything but amused at this attention, Ash was pleased to have a ballsy nurse sit with him. Not everyone was willing to pet a Gible willy-nilly, so yeah, this was good to see.

"Hey, Gible?" the young man asked and suddenly bent down at the pokémon's level.

"Gib?"

"I have an important task for you. You see… I'm not going to be able to sit here all the time, so I would like you to be on the lookout of bad people. I know you want to keep your trainer safe, so do I… So I know you understand what I mean by 'bad' people."

"Gible," the pokémon said, eyes going towards Ash for a split-second before focussing back on the nurse.

"I'd like you to keep an eye on him during the night. I can't see as well as you can and with a nose like yours, I'm sure you can smell these people coming from miles away."

Gible was enjoying the praise a lot and Ash couldn't help but smile.

"So, will you help me?"

"Gib! Gible Gib?"

"… What did he say?" the nurse asked, looking bewildered as he turned to Ash.

"He asked if he can bite."

"If the people come into this room and raise their voice, yes. And you may growl as much as you can."

"Gib."

"Thanks for wanting to help me, Gible," the teen said which caused the pokémon to puff up his chest. "But, sir, if you want to be absolutely certain no one gets in… there's another pokéball."

"Oh?"

"Yep. Ever seen a Gliscor before?"

"Can I?"

"Go ahead, it's right there."

The nurse did release the pokémon and oh, it was clear the young man had never seen a Gliscor before. The poor nurse jumped back at least a metre in distance, not having expected the pokémon to be so large. Ash was grinning all the time though, he knew what effect Gliscor had on people. The pokémon wasn't interested in the nurse though and in his own peculiar way, went to hang off the rail that normally served for the curtain around the bed… Which ended up in Gliscor hanging upside down and looking absolutely delighted with it. But then Gliscor and Gible saw each other and Ash became aware they had just made a silent promise to each other, even if their eyes had crossed for a little while. The nurse didn't notice anything, but the boy did notice Gible tensing up ever so subtly, before turning towards the door.

It took the teen a couple of seconds before he could hear the hurried footsteps. _Very_ hurried footsteps and Ash got the impression that this person had skidded to a stop before starting to rap on the door.

"Yes?" the nurse asked.

And when the door opened, Ash couldn't get any happier.

"Brock!" he exclaimed.

"Ash! Oh God, Ash, I'm so glad to see you, oh!"

His friend had zoomed over towards the bed, the nurse had quickly and somewhat awkwardly lowered the bar again. The young man must not have expected any more visitors but it was clear Gible wasn't pleased too. However, Brock… He totally collapsed, burst out in tears and it broke Ash's heart to see him this way. And it wasn't even all his fault if only his mom had brought his transceiver with her the first time he had asked, if only she had _listened_ to him!

"Brock? You good?" the boy asked, already tearful himself now.

"I-I'm so glad, oh, Ash, I missed you so much," Brock sobbed, barely able to speak. "He hurt me so much, telling those lies."

Yeah, Ash was well on his way to condemn Gary to an afterlife in the Distortion World, preferably haunted by Giratina in person forever after. He didn't want to sit here, watching his friends collapse, one after another! He didn't deserve this, _they_ didn't deserve this! That Gary had been making fun of him was fine… but that he used these kind people? Hurt them as much as this? No… No, Gary could come and beg on his knees, promise him the world and whatnot, Ash would _never_ forgive him for this.

"I'm sorry, Brock, I wish there was something I could have done. But I didn't know, it all happened behind my back, I don't even know why none of you went to ask my mom, she'd know? And she _never_ missed a call, you could have easily asked her, she's in the hospital too now, because she had no one to talk to, knowing to vent some of her frustrations, completely burned out."

"It's not you, Ash, it's not you at all. You have your own issues, it's fine, I'm sorry for crying, I just…"

"I understand. I'd be this upset too if someone told me… But I still… don't understand. What's Pallet ever done to people that no one dares come there?"

"I don't like the town, Ash, I… it's creepy. And I didn't think your mom would've been happy if I came and reminded her."

It sounded reasonable enough, but it was still bullshit. His mom wasn't recluse, she was a people-person like him and the last thing she did was stay silent and alone when she wasn't feeling well. Unless she was sick and bedridden, his mom would be talkative and relatively nice to anyone interested and willing to listen to her.

"Is this helping? I mean, I can't really do much but I hope you see how I'm still here, man. I never wanted this, I never wanted you to start crying, I've had three of you cry your hearts out and then I hear you've all been screaming at each other… It's everything I don't like," Ash frowned. "All of that added with what I've already needed to deal with, I… I want nothing more than you to be happy again, Brock. Happy and near me."

"Of course, it's helping, though I've caught myself never actually believing Gary. Call it ignorance, but I had stopped talking to him after a few hateful comments from him. My little sisters went off with my phone, they didn't like that it was making me sad. So they put it underneath my dad's mattress and he actually believed his room was haunted for a while until he found the phone. Searched for it for two days straight."

Ash chuckled, knowing Brock's dad wasn't the brightest bulb either. Still, it was nice to hear that everyone's family was taking good care of them, because the fact that Misty had come around first, meant either of her sisters either confronted Gary or had called his mom. And seeing he got his mom's raging fit in front of him, Ash guessed it had been her the sensation sisters had contacted.

"Is he okay now?"

"Yeah, of course. He was worried about you as well, you know?"

"Was he?"

"Everyone was, it was a huge uproar, not to mention that everyone was already panicking about that sudden darkness."

"… Darkness? What darkness?"

"The sun didn't shine for almost three weeks, Ash, it was constantly dark. And then, as if it couldn't get any worse, communication was dropping and eventually, nothing powered by electronic worked. My dad had to get a generator powered by pokémon and even they were under the weather. We thought it was because of the darkness but no one was happy at the time."

"… Why don't I know that?"

"According to your file, you were unconscious during that time, Ash," the nurse supplied helpfully.

"For real?"

"You were comatose?" Brock asked, eyes widening.

"Yes," Ash answered, with a sigh. "I'm not on top of the details, you'll have to ask my uncle for that, but be careful, okay? Lance is sensitive to the subject."

"… Lance? Champion Lance?"

"Yes."

"My God, I thought Misty was kidding."

"You think she's in the mood for jokes? Did you see her?"

"No and no, I didn't. Ash, how?"

"His father and my dad's father are the same. That's how."

"… No, no, how didn't you know that?"

"Dad got beaten up by Team Rocket and was taken from mom who was pregnant with me, to protect her from Team Rocket. Lance took care of Red and mom took care of me. Lance never met my mom, mom and dad's wedding was a shotgun one. So when we met, he didn't connect the dots, not until he and mom started talking to each other when they both were involved in my accident."

"Ash, that's major news."

"Wanna know something more major?"

"Yes?"

"When I'm out of this hospital, you're going to have to take the bus towards Mahogany."

Brock looked confused about it until Ash explained to him what had happened today. The somewhat older teen was bewildered about the whole thing but visibly angry. He could hardly believe it at all, but the nurse confirmed the story, stating that the woman's reaction was the only reason why he had taken on vigil over Ash. Brock did ask if he had said something to aggravate her, but the boy came up empty on reasons why Delia had flipped her switch when Ash give him a detailed rundown on what had happened. Giving someone a bit of lip wasn't the end of the world but it was clear Brock's perception of his mom had changed dramatically.

"Look, euhm… if it doesn't work out with Lance, I'm sure I can squeeze a spot into the house, yeah? Just give me a call, you're more than welcome, you know that."

"I'll keep it in mind," Ash chuckled.

He knew it'd be a bit busy in there, but wouldn't it be lovely? He'd always wanted a sibling, maybe he wouldn't have made the mistake of putting up with Gary if he'd had. But yeah, you kind of needed a man for that as a woman, huh? And no matter what they claimed about his mom, Ash knew she was loyal and without Red in the picture, there had been no hope for a sibling. Even now, with his mom barely in her thirties… But no, it was fine, he still had his friends and with a bit of luck, Lance would be cool as a temporary guardian and he'd be happy there and have no need to go begging for another place to stay at. Ultimately, though, the teen wanted to have a sit down with his mom, have a good talk and just… get it over with and start anew.

Today had been a busy day, though, he realised that when he suddenly got very dizzy near the end of Brock's visit. The teen must've noticed something because he'd quietly said his goodbyes and left with the same promise as Misty, that'd he'd return soon. That was all good for Ash, who watched him leave with a smile, happy he had at least saved another one of his friends from a delusion. However, this darkness wasn't something he was happy with, especially not since it apparently coincided with the period he'd missed. Coma or unconscious, no one really gave him any clear answers on that either, so…

"I'm going to turn you on your side now, okay? You can't keep in the same position for too long, we want to avoid bedsores."

"Bedsores?"

"Skin needs to breathe and if you lay on certain area's for too long, the skin will start to infect because it's not getting any ventilation and once it's infected, the skin will start eating away on itself," the nurse answered calmly.

"… Yeah, I wanna avoid that too."

However, as soon as the nurse had turned him to the side, making his head roll right next to Gible -who didn't mind that at all, the dizziness returned. Maybe he'd made a sound or something else that had alerted the young man something was up because the nurse had asked whether he was okay, but Ash was _so_ tired all of a sudden, he'd passed out before he could even answer. Who would blame him, after what had already happened, hm? From his unreasonable mother to Mewtwo being surprisingly oblivious and his compassionate uncle, to the reunion with his two, fantastic friends, he might have some strange dreams out of it, but in the end, he was happy. A bit disappointed because of what happened with his mom but happy with everything else that had happened today.


	9. Unfinished Sympathy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, man, this wasn't an easy chapter at all. Massive 'thank you' for your patience with me and I hope you enjoy, I did my best.

Ash feels restless as he lays in the bed. He's wide awake, but he knows most of the people in Kanto are at this time a day, it's noon, after all. Nevertheless, he feels like it's three in the morning on a school day. Everyone keeps telling him he should rest, take care of himself but Ash doesn't know how to do that. He rests when he's tired and the taking care part come automatically, or at least, that's what he had always assumed. You took a bath when you were dirty, right?

It turns out it's not as easy as that, dr. Knight spends quite some days telling him he should listen to his body and that he should use this time to learn how to do that. Ash does exactly that and finds out his body is very bored and usually hungry. That, apparently, had not been the answers dr. Knight had been looking for, so the teen spends another night 'listening' to himself. Instead of sleeping, which in hindsight seemed a bit contra-productive to what everyone in this hospital was trying to achieve.

Ash doesn't _feel_ dead-tired, though and after that long night of silence, he thinks he knows what's gotten him all annoyed. He tells dr. Knight that his body feels like moving on and _that_ got a good reaction from the man, only…

"To move on, you should rest right now."

"I _am_ resting."

"No, you're getting worked up about things you can't change. No one said it was going to be easy."

No, he admits that no one told him that. He would've appreciated it, though, but it seemed like the universe was out to test him. Ash knows he can't complain, contrary to last time, he gets visitors who are pleased to see him and don't feel morally compelled to be there like his mother had often said. Yes, yes, he knows she's not a good person by now, but he can't help that either, she needs to carry her own cross, for now, he's already having issues carrying his own. Even Brock likes to remind him of that on occasion, whenever Ash admits to feeling a bit home-sick. But then, according to his awesomely smart friend, it's possible to miss a bad situation, despite recognising it for what it was deep down. He calls it 'Stockholm Syndrome' but the boy vehemently defends himself because it wasn't _that_ bad. She never put a hand on him-

"She swatted you in front of everyone multiple times, Ash," Brock told him, looking deadly serious.

"But it didn't hurt. And it was more a habit than anything."

"If it happened often for it to become a habit, your mother definitely had the intention to hurt you at some point."

Ash faltered at that, but how are you supposed to defend yourself against someone who knew what seam to rip for you to fall apart?

"She never denied me any food, either."

"Your mother cooked a lot, Ash."

"Yeah, well, I still had leftovers."

"If she ate everything she cooked, she would be the size of a house in no time."

"It's not my fault she cooks for an army," he said but knew it was a feeble attempt to change the subject, one Brock wouldn't fall for.

"A circle will fit in a square, Ash. Just because you fit, doesn't mean you belong there."

The statement hurts a lot. His awesomely smart friend is much better at finding his buttons than dr. Knight and Brock makes no show in pushing them _hard_. It wasn't the first time Ash had cried in that bed, but it certainly was one of the rare times he felt as hurt like that. He doesn't want to admit that he always knew, always _feared_ that he had been in the way of his mother's happiness but to know he had also barricaded her freedom stung way worse. She never appeared to have been suffering, but then again, he had only started minding how _he_ was feeling recently, how could he have known she had been unhappy?

"Communication," Brock said, sweeping the rug from under every single excuse Ash could've brought up. "Come off it, Ash, you're smarter than that."

"I don't feel like I am."

"How would you feel like, getting a kid this age?"

"… She was fourteen?"

"Yes, Ash, she was fourteen when she had you. But so was your dad."

He understands now, though he had always been under the impression his father had run for the hills after finding out he got a girl pregnant. To have heard from Lance that his half-brother had been pleased to have the kid, had loved Delia so much he had gone out of his way to marry her, despite the girl's family's threats… It stung just as hard as to realise he had been unwanted. Perhaps not _really_ unwanted but he certainly hadn't been planned. Not at fourteen, at least. Ash dreams that night about what could have been if his mother had been older, that his father had been there, to back him up.

What followed up on that night was one of the rare mornings where he doesn't have a horrible mood when he woke, but his good mood was destroyed after an impromptu visit from Mewtwo. The creature hadn't meant to, of course not, it was still way too focussed on showing it was _not_ scared of him, but despite everything, Mewtwo is a direct link to Team Rocket. The ones who had literally destroyed the man who could have been the salvation for this disaster of a family of his. He swore to himself, that very morning, that Giovanni would pay for this. They wouldn't be getting away with it this as easy as they thought they had.

But that would have to wait, first of all, he would have to become a bit more mobile. He's quite proud he could already roll around all by himself and at least hold a glass of water without shaking so badly from the effort that the water would spill out of the glass before it even reached his lips. Cutlery and pens are his current working point, though Ash can't wait for his coach to finally focus on his legs. As he's waiting for dr. Lotus' daily visit, he still feels horribly away and antsy, feeling his emotions bubble up as soon as the door opens.

"Oh, hello, Ash," the man says with a bit of a cautious expression on his face. He's clearly expecting something but that suits the boy perfectly.

"I have questions," he responds.

"Can I do your check-up first?"

He lets the doctor do whatever he needs to do, he's ready to be patient even if that unsettles dr. Lotus.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"Is there any news on the prosthetic limb?" Ash asks, going straight for the kill.

The doctor's face twists in a way that almost convinces the teen that they had simply forgotten or that Miss Eleanor had dumped the project. Surely not?

"That's up to your coach, Ash, I'm not on top of things on that matter."

"So you don't have to sign anything the coach or dr. Knight does?" he asks incredulously and the man squirms.

"Well, yes, but they don't have to tell me what it's about in detail."

"You don't sound very involved."

"Ash, I'm not a technician. I don't work with anyone but my patient. Miss Eleanor has to answer to your movement coach, he's in charge of that."

As if knowing the name of the designer of his prosthesis isn't a detail, huh? Either this lady is world-famous or dr. Lotus is lying through his teeth. Knowing his mother had him fooled for the fourteen years he's already been alive for, he instinctively goes for the second option.

"You had other questions?" dr. Lotus asks.

"Yes. How do you forget how to move? Or rather, why did I forget how to move? I get it, when I'm lying still, my muscles get stiff. I've been through that already but this? I've never seen any pokémon hibernating have these issues?"

Dr. Lotus tells him that, first of all, people don't hibernate and secondly, he hadn't been hibernating at all. He repeats what Ash has heard a couple of times before, but it only now that he understands. His brain had shut down and turned on like a computer with hardware issues. They had short-circuited on something and in their desperate need to reboot, had started dropping redundant bodily functions. He has a bit of difficulty understanding why his own brain thought walking wasn't important, but then again, having his heart and lungs, as well as his brain still functioning was kind of important too.

"Please try and understand that it takes a bit of time. Be proud of what you've already achieved, Ash, you're doing so well," the doctor says.

"I will," he answers. "No need to sound so desperate about it."

"Knowing you, you would be lumbering through the fields the second we give you the prosthesis. You just have no regard for your own safety and I find that extremely concerning."

'Ah,' the boy thinks to himself but he knows better than to lash out at the man who was subtle dropping hints.

"Thank you for looking after me," he says, mimicking dr. Knight's tip and tricks he's come to know by heart. "But I'm sad you felt like you couldn't be honest with me."

The doctor's expression falters and Ash panics at it because he only knows how to express himself this way through what the therapist had shown him. Dr. Knight had been adamant to teach him how to explain himself, learning him the most common expressions but what good had it done now, huh?

"I'm sorry, Ash. I just never know how a patient will react, you've been in a lot of pain recently and there has been an awful lot of change around you too. I would understand if you would be angry with me, even if I didn't do anything to you but I guess I've prepared for the worst."

"I'm not angry at you. Thank you, doctor."

And dr. Lotus leaves in a somewhat happier mood. Ash didn't think he would have such a control over a situation and he figures he also knows why so many of his conversations with Gary had ended up in a fistfight. If only his mother had taught him that it was alright to involve emotions in conversations, that you could be verbally sorry about something and not just cynically so. He's going to thank dr. Knight later today, for teaching him, but only after he survives what could be a tense meeting with Misty.

He knows his friends talk behind his back, he's heard enough talk about that group chat. Ash knows his fingers aren't nimble enough yet to handle the tiny buttons on the device, but they better prepare for the day he finds that app because he'll read everything they've sent to each other, even if he needs to ask one of his friends to loan him their device so he can see the entire conversation. But Arceus help Gary when he gets faced with the exact words the teen send to his friends. Of all things Gary could have done, he does the one thing he knows he'll never be forgiven for and it lets Ash know that the teen is ready to be condemned by him. It puts Gary into a position that'll make him the victim of an unfair situation and Ash knows he'll get away with it… but he's not ready to abandon Gary. He'll think about it for a little longer, maybe, if he asks nicely, Misty will show him the group chat right away.

* * *

She's hesitant when it's the first question he asks -after having welcomed her back, of course- and Ash does his best to look as innocent as his intentions. Misty scrutinizes his face but sighs as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Brock said that you would ask about it."

"I'm glad he knows me well enough. So, can I?"

"He said it wouldn't be good for you right now."

"Then he doesn't know me well enough. He should know I get upset when no one tells me anything. Like, for example, that week where the sun didn't come up."

Another subject everyone stayed silent about. Another fact Ash _knew_ was important and yet no one wanted to talk to him about it. But he'll find out one way or another, in fact…

"It's alright if you don't show me. I'll find out about it later on."

Misty didn't seem the like the sound of that but instead of producing her transceiver out of her pocket, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and took a newspaper out of it.

"Instead of focusing on my transceiver, maybe you would like to take a look at this."

He gets faced with a newspaper and for a moment, he wonders why Misty would even show him this. But he's learned that _if_ anyone shows him anything, it's usually something that has to do with him, so he reads the page she's showing him.

"Mist? Why are you showing me this?" he asks when he only reads boring news about the stock market on the page in front of him.

"Oh, oops, wrong page," she says and turns the newspaper around.

Ash knows _instantly_ why she would show him this, there is a large picture on this page, showing Dialga in its massive but not at all glorious form. The poor thing is covered with the soot he _knows_ belongs to the explosion he caused and it makes alarm bells go off in his head.

"O-oh no," he utters, before falling into a mantra of 'nonononono'.

He keeps repeating the word, over and over, until he feels a hand on his shoulder. It's dr. Lotus, who watches him in worry and steadies him. Ash had no idea he had been swaying back and forth at all, all he knows is that he _needs_ to fix this poor Dialga's issue. God, he had no idea the pokémon had been caught in the blast and heck, no wonder it hadn't returned!

"Ash, can you hear me?"

"Doctor," he says, grabbing the man's arm -not to firm, his grip isn't that strong yet- to keep his attention on him. "Doctor, you need to teach me to brush my teeth."

"I… yes? Yes, I'm sure we can manage that," the man says, turning to look at what Ash knew was a nurse, but the boy didn't want to look away from the doctor. "But Ash, are you okay?"

"I'm such a failure," he says and regrets it instantly because in a couple of minutes, dr. Knight is going to come back inside and chide him for saying that sort of thing while he knows well enough that he's not.

But how is he supposed to tell the man he _is_ responsible this time around? That he caused this massive discomfort on a creature who had only been here to protect him? Ash knows he needs to rectify it and he doesn't care what will happen, he needs to have a toothbrush _right_ now. He tells the doctor that much and while it confuses everyone in the room, dr. Lotus makes it happen. The next hour or so is filled with a couple of nurses helping him practise how to hold the brush and move it back and forth and he succeeds. His arms and hands hurt but he's satisfied that _if_ Dialga shows up, he can at least help to restore it back to its former glory.

The picture from the newspaper is burned into his mind and somehow, as he lays in bed, now completely on his own again -yes, he doesn't remember when Misty had left either- Ash wonders if the pokémon is angry at him. That would make it the second legendary creature to have some sort of negative connotation to him, with Mewtwo being scared of him and-

"I am _not_ scared of you, Chosen."

He's not even surprised that the pokémon is suddenly right next to him, Mewtwo seems adamant to defend its honour. And apparently, feeling fear is something to be ashamed of, according to the world of pokémon. The legendary pokémon has appeared next to him, without fail, every time he only thought about the idea of it being scared of him. Ash knows he's been thinking about it a lot, hence why he's probably already grown used to Mewtwo's sudden appearances by now.

"It has nothing to do with my honour, I am here to protect you and it would make no sense whatever if I would be scared of what I am protecting," the pokémon huffs, moodily crossing its arms across its chest.

"There's an awful lot of things that don't make any sense in this world, though."

"… Go on then, show me what I am supposedly so scared off."

"The nurses will kill me if I cover this place in soot again. And I don't want you to appear all dirty in public either."

"I do not appear in public."

"You know what I mean."

"… Very well, then," Mewtwo sniffs. "Then you have no proof that I am scared, more rather, _you_ are the scared one right now."

"Scared of scaring you off, yeah, I'll admit that," Ash says and shrugs. "I dunno what to say to you, Mewtwo."

"You will not scare me off. You keep justifying every single action inside your head before committing to it and it gives me _plenty_ of warning in advance. Next to that, you spend some time mulling over what happened so honestly, I would ask you to stop thinking so much, if you have the intention to surprise me."

"You want me to stop thinking? Huh…that's a first."

"Undeserved," the pokémon huffs. "This red Aura of yours, are you still convinced it is pure evil?"

"You came in here, white a sheet, telling me I was a great danger for myself and suddenly I'm the one convinced I'm pure evil? That's a good way of putting your own words in my mouth, Mewtwo, I'm not having it. I just linked aggression to the colour of my Aura, I never said anything about being pure evil."

The pokémon looks peeved and it clearly is trying to keep itself calm.

"I did say that. Apologies. My social skills are lacking and you have only started paying attention to your surroundings."

"You thought you could get away with it?"

"… Yes. Again, my apologies."

"You're not the first _or_ the last to take me for the idiot I am, though, so it's fine, I guess," Ash says hesitantly because he refuses to judge Mewtwo for something it can't help either.

Having been raised by Team Rocket, it's nothing short of a miracle it has manners at all, not to mention his surprise realising it knows how to apologise.

"You taught me that," the pokémon comments and Ash blinks before recalling it probably happened during the first time they had met, the one he doesn't remember. "And you should not forgive me."

"Don't say that, I'm not going to condemn you for something that stupid," the teen says. "Instead, why don't you give _your_ opinion on my Aura, hm?" he adds and calls out this tiny little sphere of the stuff.

It floats there, looking a bit unbalanced as gold particles rage on the in-and outside of the small orb.

"That is not red," Mewtwo says and points an accusing finger at the sphere. "I see _pink_."

Ash does a double-take and as he stares at the obviously red -a bit watered down because they are surrounded by white everywhere- he wonders if pokémon have a different kind of sight than humans-

" _No_ , I do not have a different kind of eyesight, this is pink, Chosen."

"It's way too dark to be pink."

"Magenta, then."

"That doesn't exist."

"It is right in front of me, it exists."

"Mewtwo, magenta is a colour our brain made up from seeing too much green around us," Ash deadpans, having read that in a magazine recently and barely having understood it himself. "It doesn't _really_ exist."

The pokémon stares at him, takes a look at the orb from a couple of angles and sighs.

"Is that so…?"

Ash nods and goes to staring at the orb as well. Looking at it now, it does seem to get a bit pinker as it hangs there…

"Is it hardening?" he asks, frowning as he sees the transparency disappear as well.

Mewtwo doesn't answer and plainly takes the orb out of the air. It hands it back to the teen, who takes and… giggles when he feels that his Aura sphere has become a ping-pong ball.

"You must be unbelievably bored," the pokémon comments.

"… I guess so. I do have a mission, though."

"Would you like my help?"

"In bringing Dialga to me? Gladly."

"… I have no control over it. I assume it will come back to you eventually," Mewtwo says. "But I can at least get you some water and soap to get the job done."

Ash has to remind himself that he gave the pokémon access to his mind because he never even said anything about his desire to clean the Dialga to it. Nevertheless, it's handy so he nods vigorously and spends some time drawing Mewtwo's feline habits out of it with the ping-pong ball. It is a good one, too, it has a good bounce and the creature catches it every single time it bounces away from Ash. The game lasts until a nurse comes in and thankfully, she knocks before entering. She would have encountered the ping-pong ball on her way in otherwise, but Mewtwo had successfully returned it into his hold before disappearing.

It's all very queer, though, Ash had no idea his Aura could do that and honestly, he remembers it having looked red before. He knows he needs to talk to somewhat about it and Lance comes up as the first person he could talk to, but the man isn't an expert. He's only seen the Aura of his brother and so, any possible quirks Red has, he'll automatically assume as the norm. That's not what Ash needs because he knows he's never normal in anything he does. He's not an ordinary boy because he's not looking at girls that often. He's not a typical trainer because he gives options to his pokémon while most boss their pokémon around, demanding stuff. He's not the best son either, but that's territory he doesn't want to cross, he knows it's full of mental landmines and he knows he'll step on one or two if he does venture out on it. The last thing he wants is to explode, no matter in what way.

They might kick him out of the hospital if he does something again and he knows his little stunt of demanding to learn how to brush his teeth is going to come back to bite his butt. Perhaps dr. Lotus was relieved to find he hadn't suddenly focussed on the prosthetic limb, instead choosing to practise a seemingly innocent action. He isn't going to fool himself into thinking they don't know him well enough to know he was up to something, though, so Ash knows he should be careful. Nevertheless, he's got Mewtwo's help and that by itself is enough to make him feel like succeeding. All he needs to do is to wait for Dialga… and possibly sit through a couple of extra sessions with dr. Knight. The way dr. Lotus had looked at him when he had grabbed the man's arm as suddenly as that made Ash aware he had overstepped some kind of boundary. So yes, he's kind of prepared for a couple of hours of err… 'special' attention.

* * *

Someone else had arrived, someone more skilled than dr. Knight. Ash felt horrified _and_ mortified when he realises he is met by a psychologist. He needs to remind himself that it just another form of help, that this doesn't automatically label him as crazy. Even though he knows he's missing more than one screw alright, he's been involved in too many messy situations _voluntarily_ to still be called fully sane. Never even mind the fact he's willingly thrown himself off cliffs and that he's jumped in the way of strong-ass pokémon attacks for 'valid' reasons only he understood. That he had gotten away with it just made him lucky, not special in any way.

"How are you feeling?" the man with the grey hair and grey eyes asks.

"Scared," the boy blurts out because this person looks like they know what only his friends know.

"I'm here to help you."

Help, Ash realises, is something very personal. He's never asked for help because people who offered it usually wanted something in return. And in the end, he always managed just fine when he did it all by himself. Instead, the teen thinks this man is here because dr. Knight hasn't been able to talk to him as well as they used to. Ash doesn't know what has changed, but he doesn't take the bait to talk about his past any longer. It's like he sees it coming miles away, a bit like Mewtwo had the mental warning way in advance.

And he's right, the psychologist doesn't 'help', he's left hiding in his own hands because he's always known he didn't feel good enough, that he acted like he wanted to be the best because he always felt like he was the worst. That he had wanted to become famous so that he would finally get noticed. But that didn't mean he had wanted to hear it come from this stranger's mouth! These were _his_ ideas, his ideals-

"I know you're angry, Ash, but it's not your fault. In a world where no one notices you, of course, you'll try and make waves."

"You tell that to my friend who told everyone I was dead for people to pay attention to him," the boy bit back angrily.

"… That is a special kind of case by itself," the man says but looks impressed nonetheless. "Is it too late for me to ask you to find better friends?"

"No. I have some already," he answers, though thinks to himself that they're hurting him just as badly as Gary but with different intentions.

"I know it must be hard for you to lose your home as you knew it, Ash."

And the boy cries at that, again, because he doesn't like the idea that he'll never be able to see his mother as his mom again. That they all make it sound like she can't be helped. Doesn't that mean he's a lost cause too? Is that why they're sending a psychologist at him?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. Instead, why don't you talk to me about something you've been thinking about?" the man urges, sounding a bit desperate before he catches himself.

Ash isn't fooled, this person is only human too. He knows the man wanted him to catch that desperation on purpose. So he picks something he knows no one knows the truth about. His prior accident which resulted in the rude amputation of his left leg is still shrouded in mystery and perhaps he can still gauge at the man's knowledge of that dark period too.

The psychologist squirms in response to his theory of his attackers being other-dimensional, that he resembled something they knew or were looking for and that this was why he had been attacked. Perhaps he looked like something they knew could take a hit, that he had just been treated like they did back at their own dimension. Maybe he had scared them for being more sensitive than they were used to, that they hadn't even meant to hurt him and had just assumed they could take him without injuring him as gravely as that.

"You think you're the one who is responsible for this accident?"

"If I appeared to look like something that exists in their dimension, perhaps it's me who doesn't belong here."

The man leaves shortly after that and for once, Ash doesn't regret saying something personal. It's been a long thought process, but he still feels like he's closer to the truth than all these people claiming it was an accident. Of all the people in Pallet, he's the one they had honed in on. Clearly they weren't looking for an everyday kind of asshole, or they would've had way too many options to choose from. And yes, it feels better for him to blame himself for not being enough than to judge pokémon for their way of living. _If_ his attackers were pokémon, to begin with.

Honestly, now that he's all alone and in a destructive mood, Ash knows Dialga was somehow responsible for the sun not coming up in that week everyone had been immersed in darkness for. Stopping time was a piece of cake for the Ruler of Time, wasn't it? Other legendary pokémon could have joined in but he still knows way too little about the incident to be sure about who was involved. Ash is lost on the 'why' too if the pokémon knew Arceus would intervene, surely they wouldn't have panicked like that?

The boy is startled when the door suddenly opens, revealing dr. Knight, dr. Lotus, the still-unnamed psychologist -the man had never properly introduced himself, which was kind of rude- as well as his uncle Lance. He blinks and is unsure what to do. Ash wants to smile at Lance but he's not sure if he can pull it off in front of the three doctors. Is a psychologist even a doctor too?

He watches dr. Lotus take a seat at the far back of the room and sees dr. Knight go stand on the other side of the bed, while the psychologist sticks close to Lance, who takes a seat in the chair right next to the right side of his bed. Ash doesn't like the look of this and his expression betrays him because dr. Knight takes the lead, still thinking he's got the upper hand when it comes to being liked, apparently. Depending on how this situation will turn out, that could change drastically, or so the teen thinks.

"Ash, we need you to start talking seriously. It's clear you're not feeling well and it's going to stand in the way of your recovery," the man says, sounding uncharacteristically serious. "Your motivation to walk is nothing we want to support and if you don't change your ways, we will cancel the entire project."

"Oh wow, because that's an unbiased opinion, isn't it?"

"It goes against our moral aspirations to send a teenager into more trouble, only for them to end up back here. You need to realise that your past is your past and that the future will make you dependant on others. If you can't answer a simple question in honestly, how are you supposed to find the right people to help you?"

"Putting your own success in the way of my mobility is evil."

"It's not about our success, Ash, we need you to ensure us you'll remain safe even outside of this hospital."

This wasn't fair, they were cornering him! In a last, desperate attempt, the boy turns to Lance.

"You approve of this?" he asks.

"I don't know what's happening, Ash, I was called in because they needed your current guardian to be here," Lance answers, even though he looks out of his comfort zone as well. "Know that I'm on your side, no matter what happens… but I'm not going to stand in the way of your recovery either, okay?"

Alright, so far for trying to rely on someone who's got experience in politics, then.

"What do you want to know?" he asks as he turns back to look at dr. Knight.

"I want to know how you're doing and I'll need a long answer this time around. You've given us nothing to go on except for the fact you burn down every attempt to talk to either me or my colleague."

"I've told you all there was to know about my past, though? Or wasn't that enough?"

"You've described the four years of travelling in detail, yes, but you're fourteen. And at the time, I was focusing on a young trainer who we thought would be scared to death of pokémon, because of what had happened to him. But now you're a teenager who has landed in hospital because of your family's inadequate care. Not just that, your parents have been hospitalised as well so there's something wrong, Ash. We need to know if you came out of this with unscathed, emotional negligence can have severe effects on children."

"Negligence? What kinds of labels am I getting? First Stockholm Syndrome for missing my own damn mother and now this?!"

"You don't need to raise your voice at me," dr. Knight says calmly. "I know you're upset."

"I bet you do," the boy bites back. "I bet you know a whole fucking load more than you let on too. Let me tell you one thing, though, this walking on eggshell thing isn't working on me. If you really care, if you were as honest as you want me to be, I wouldn't feel like someone's trying to convince me into doing something for them."

The therapist recoiled.

"You all sound like every damn villain I've met in my entire life before they find out I'm unusable, that I won't bend the way they want me to. I'm not going to, you can tell me I've lived my entire life wrong and I'll accept that but I'll _never_ bow down for someone who just wants things to go their way, just _because_."

"How many villains have you already met?" Lance asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Ash notices the honest curiosity straight away, in a room full of people who already have made up their minds about him, his uncle's feelings light up the room like a Christmas tree. He's not surprised, this is something he's never mentioned to the man, even though Lance is the best person to relay that information to.

"A couple of Team Rocket member, Jessie, James, Butch, Cassidy… Giovanni too, euhm… Hunter J was one, Mars and all the other planet idiots, Cyrus too. Colress and Ghethis…"

His uncle stops him from continuing by laying a hand on his arm. Lance looks resigned but so do all the other adults in the room. Had he said something wrong?

"I'm sorry, I never wanted to give you the idea I was trying to achieve something for my own goal," dr. Knight says. "Though, when I get nothing in return for trying so hard, it's even harder to return with as much enthusiasm as before."

"… You've given up on me?"

"On the contrary, I wouldn't have called in the cavalry if I had. All I want is for you is to be happy because you're absolutely not," the man says and Ash is surprised to hear he means it.

He appreciates the change, it's nice to know that the therapist is listening to what he's saying. The boy would've been hopeful, if only there weren't two other, broody character in the room. Dr. Lotus sees he's still upset and gives him a day to gather his thoughts, as well as a last chance to do things the easy way, with dr. Knight. If that doesn't work out the way they expected it to, he'll need to deal with the psychologist, who clearly doesn't care much. However, as dr. Knight and the other man leave, dr. Lotus leans heavily on the bar at the end of the bed, giving Ash a weird look.

"So… you don't like being deceived, hm?" he says and the boy scoffs.

"You do?"

"If only I knew when people were doing it to me as you could, kiddo."

"Wait… the psychologist… Did you make him do that deliberately?" Ash asks, growing a bit annoyed as it hadn't been a good experience.

"Yes, I thought it was strange that your behaviour shifted the day dr. Knight had a bit of an off-day. I do care, Ash, I might not always show it, but you're a special patient of mine. So please, take the chance we're giving you with both hands, we're deadly serious about this."

"I… Yes, doctor."

The man nods and leaves, so now it's just Ash and Lance in the room. There's a wild storm raging in the boy's chest, though, his heart rate goes up the moment he knows he's going to have to confess knowing what was going on, with him and his family. That he had never known it was all going to come falling down because of him... Maybe not _him_ , Delia had lost her marbles over Red's return too. He might not be responsible for the whole shebang, but Ash knows he's not without fault.

"Don't worry about unravelling, Ash," Lance says, smiling warmly at him, though there is a touch of sympathy in it.

"'Kay," he answered dully. "I'm not looking forward to being reduced to a ball of yarn, though. I've always sucked at knitting. Mom's tried to teach it a couple of times, but there's always more loops at the end than the beginning. Dunno where they come from."

"Knotting works too."

"It'll look like a mess."

"But at least you made it and not someone else. In your case, I think it would be a healthy change. Also, you met Hunter J., huh?"

"Yes? But it's been a few years, she's probably long gone."

"Mm, we'll talk about it some other time. At the rate this is going, you'll be spending quite some time with me, anyway," the man says. "Clair's taken it upon herself to decorate your room, I hope you like colours."

Ash smiles and wonders what it'll feel like, living somewhere else. His heart travelled along with him, he's kind of used to spending time at other places and he's sure that it'll feel like a holiday for a good while. Until his head gets the fact that he's there to stay for a bit longer. He knows he's being such a bother because he really doesn't want to be here, stuck in this bed… but what it that happens while he's staying with Lance too?

"Hey, don't worry. You're coming home with me, but it'll always be your choice if you want to call it a home or not. You'll always be welcome, but you're free to go and have a walk if it gets too much, okay?"

"How you do know what to say?" Ash asks, confused as he feels some of his worries disappear as if his uncle just pulled a giant plug out of a tub overflowing with his darkest and intense fears.

"I've been there. I know what you want to hear."

"… Experience is a really powerful thing."

"Some people never learn, though. So, don't be that guy, okay? Do your best tomorrow, it'll be the best and fastest way for you to get out of this place. You're not happy here, are you?"

No, he realises, even if he has Pikachu here. He feels like a pokémon in quarantine, nowhere to go, always under scrutiny and most of all, he doesn't understand why and when some parts of him and his character have become bad, all of a sudden. He decides to leave that up for tomorrow when he knows dr. Knight will take him apart. He'll cry and yell if he's allowed to because Ash _is_ frustrated. There was a lot he would change if he could do things all over again, but the biggest mistake in his entire life, had been the date of his birth. He's not saying _he_ is the mistake, he's just convinced his parents would've done better if they had been a bit older.

"Don't worry, it'll get better from here on," his uncle promises and by Arceus, Ash wants to believe it so badly, he repeats the sentence in his head until he falls asleep.

* * *

Lance feels upset when he makes a hurried exit out of the hospital. He remembers how bad his sessions with therapists used to be and just having sat in with his nephew, who had requested his presence there for dr. Knight's serious treatment, brings back memories he would have rather stay hidden. But that's not why he's upset, it's the fact that he requested leave for this particular visit to Ash as he didn't want to receive any calls during the session. And guess what happened, a bit before the end?

"I will need a seriously good reason for you to justify yourself as more important than my requested leave, Scott," he says as he slides into the room, with a thunderously mad expression on his face.

However, it's not only Scott in the room, but he's also accompanied by the entire Hoenn Frontier gang. Instead of intimidating him, like Scott usually intends them to do, their presence infuriates Lance. Did he really think, after having seen his nephew blow up and see stuff float up on its own, that he's still scared of special abilities?

"We had an appointment with Charles earlier, it seemed like a good opportunity for you to try and convince Brandon that Ash needs his help."

The man nearly makes a move to grab Scott by the collar but he stops himself from moving just in time. Noland is standing awfully close and Lance doesn't want to risk anything. Not now he's actually going to step up as a caretaker. Clair has reminded him how important it was that he should be careful more than enough times, he doesn't need this extra worry. And while he's pretty sure Nolan doesn't have any extraordinary ability, outside of his extremely skilled mechanic one, he's got muscles to back up the lack of it.

"How dare you?" leaves his mouth anyway and it makes Scott gape like a Magikarp. "How dare you ask me to come by at _your_ convenience to convince one of _your_ employees of _your_ idea?"

"I thought you agreed."

"Agreed with _what_ exactly?"

"I was told that Ash needed a teacher in Aura," Brandon states, sounding angry from the start. "Which I'm inclined to decline, I don't need a second upstart in my world."

"Your world," Lance repeats, with plenty of spite. "You make it sound so important. My god, what did you do to me now, Scott? Why are you pulling me into this mess? Of all the things I would have expected you to say, you let Brandon call Ash an upstart. Were you actually there when you met him? Did he look like an upstart to you?"

"I never said anything about an upstart-" the man answers, but Brandon cuts him off.

"I've met Ash before and I'm not planning on teaching a boy something dangerous, only for him to dart off somewhere and cause ruin to people. He doesn't think things through and I'm not ready to make someone so accident-prone any worse. That's exactly what I told Palmer when he came to me, asking for help with his son as well."

How the man isn't spontaneously combusting on the spot is nothing short of a miracle, Lance's stare could melt steel, so intense. None of the other Frontier Brains speak up, though Anabel is keeping a close eye on the Champion, who already noticed that. She's Scott's first line of defence, after all, she knows you'll get angry before you do.

"It's beyond me how you could compare two so different teenagers and shove aside their unique abilities under the doormat you call 'accident-prone', Brandon," he hisses. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Or so you say. All I know is that I value my own safety."

"At this point, I'm pretty sure any Riolu would be a better fit to teach my nephew about Aura," Lance says and doesn't miss how Greta turns to Anabel, silently mouthing 'nephew?' with a confused expression on her face.

He doesn't care much, though, if it keeps all the troublemakers away from Ash, the whole world is allowed to know they're this closely related. The man doesn't understand the trouble Brandon is talking about either, he's quite proud of the boy. But then again, he was there to see most of the improvements Ash has already made. He finds him to be good company too, but this might just be him again.

"Oh, _really_?" Brandon chuckles. "I can't wait to see that happen."

Lance turns around to leave after that and he doesn't look back on that messy situation. He thinks he just dodged a bullet, if this is how Brandon responds to someone not fitting into his norm of a proper student, he knows the man would never have been a good fit for Ash. And besides, who does Scott think he is? Acting like he's Ash's guardian? Also, the way Scott tried to convince him that _he_ wanted Brandon as a teacher for Ash makes his skin crawl. It's been a while since he's encountered such blatant manipulation and he's not having it.

He knows Anabel likes Ash, he can't stop her from going to visit him. _If_ Scott can find out Ash's current location, that is and with how paranoid dr. Lotus is, there's little to no chance of his nephew's location leaking out anywhere. He'll have a chat with Agatha about that too, Lance wants to avoid any kind of trouble near Ash now because it's the last thing the kid needs. In fact, the man steers straight towards the office he knows his colleague likes to hang around at. For all Agatha likes ghosts and silence, she's a social person as well.

"Fancy seeing you here," she says as they both spot each other at the same time.

"I wanted to talk to you," Lance answers and makes a beeline to go sit right next to her. "It's about Ash."

He's got her full attention now, but also that of a couple of others. Lucian and Will were trying to weird each other out again -something to do with quotes and guessing which book it came from- but the champion knows the youngest of the two is listening in. Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to let him meet Ash in the future. It would certainly help Will not feel so lonely with his amazing psychic powers.

"Is there an issue?" Agatha asks.

"If you can call the entire Battle Frontier that, yes. Scott's gotten his eye on him and I don't like it."

"Whatever for?"

"He got it into his head that I wanted Brandon to be Ash's teacher," Lance answers, a bit hushed because he doesn't _really_ want to broadcast Ash's abilities all over the pokémon league.

"In what?" the woman repeats, with obvious distaste. "Social awkwardness?"

He snorts in amusement and shakes his head.

"No, Aura."

"… Whatever in the world is Scott thinking? Riley would be a much better choice for Ash, at least he knows how to take a joke."

'Riley!' Lance thinks, getting a sudden epiphany. He knows he's got the lad's number laying around somewhere and yeah, he would be a great fit for Ash, Riley was able to work through Red's insecurities and revive his personality a little.

"That being said, I can hardly tell anyone the location of someone I don't know the location of," Agatha continues. "I've been meaning to ask, but you've made yourself scarce these days. I almost thought you were trying to hide from me."

"What? No, no, it's just… Ash hasn't _moved_ , Agatha, things just happened that made his doctors keep him safe. It's why _I_ want to keep these Frontier Brain buffoons away from him too."

"… Is that so?" she asks but doesn't ask him to elaborate, instead skipping to a more important question. "Is he okay?"

"Euh, yeah, I guess so. I suppose it's not easy trying to clean out a closet full of skeletons and I never thought a fourteen-year-old would have such a _large_ closet. But it was overdue for a good rummage through, let me tell you that. The kid saw more criminals than me, for fuck's sake. He gave me a detailed description of Hunter J. a good hour ago and she's _bad_ news."

"I know that," Agatha deadpans. "I also know that she moves quickly, why would you want a detailed description of her? You just told me he was upset and yet you ask him something like that?"

"Yeah, but the funny thing is, Ash doesn't think meeting Hunter J. is any worse than meeting any other person who dislikes him on sight. I'll never forget the face of that therapist when Ash called him out on sounding like Giovanni, it was _priceless_."

"How tragic," the elderly woman says. "It makes him sound much older than he is, the poor boy but… I take that he knows a bit more than he lets on?"

"Absolutely," Lance agrees. "And he'll tell you but only when you ask the right question. So, _should_ you want to go and have a look, I could supply you with his exact location… on the sole condition that I have every right to come to bother you when I find you've leaked it. On purpose or not."

Agatha gives him a stern look and a part of him knows he should know better than this because she's an excellent judge of character but there are two others close by, who could possibly be a bit of a bother. That's why he doesn't speak up and passes her the information through an app only _they_ can read. He knows he's being a bit paranoid but knowing that the boy had a connection with so many criminals, despite the fact Ash despises them and everything they stood for, it could bring troubles for them should the criminals get to know about the connection at all. Not that Lance thinks anyone would willingly try and fight the entire pokémon league just to get to Ash, but still, it's better to be careful. His explosive nephew has a good head on his shoulders and a couple of frighteningly strong abilities to back up whatever part one might find 'weak'.

The last thing he needs is Ash siding with an influential asshole but something tells him that it might not be so easy to get the kid to join something he's not convinced about. Nevertheless, he's the boy's guardian so he'll make sure that, even if he overdoes it, Ash will remain safe under his vigil. Lance might not be able to control his nephew, but he can stop others from doing it and that's exactly what he does.

* * *

Turns out he doesn't even _need_ to call Riley, Lance bumps into him later that week, in a supermarket no less. The man looks out of place, but no matter where he's ever seen the somewhat younger man, he always seems like he doesn't fit in. That never seems to bother Riley, though, so he doesn't even ask. What he does do, is ask him if he's got a moment to talk.

"Sure, let me just finish my shopping first."

Lance isn't bothered by it, he still needs his groceries as well, but he is surprised to find Riley waiting at his car. Then again, he _is_ kind of used to people running away from him.

"So, what do you need my help with?" the younger man asks, cutting to the chase as soon as Lance closes the back of the car.

"Are you still teaching kids?"

"Yeah, just running out of kids to teach. You wouldn't believe how many emotionally stumped kids reject their Aura before they even reach eleven. It's _mad_ , Lance, I don't know what to do about it."

"Neither do I, but I might've found a student for you."

"Lead me to him."

"You don't want to hear more?"

"I know you well enough that you wouldn't approach me if you weren't serious," Riley answers and Lance wishes everyone had that kind of faith in him. "And I'm kind of bored too, so lead the way."

"Yeah, how about we meet back at Celadon Central? It's still four hours before visitor hours start."

"… In hospital? Not _because_ of the Aura, I hope? Because if that's the case, you would be better going to Brandon, he's good at teaching-"

"No."

"… kids who encountered traumatic events after the use of their abilities?" the other finishes hesitantly. "Lance, what's the matter?"

"It's got nothing to do with his abilities, the kid just _has_ Aura and I'm at a loss what to do because I knew his dad had it and didn't end up in a good place because he had all the wrong kinds of support," Lance answered, suddenly feeling a bit grumpy. "Having Brandon moan about upstarts and his life being more important than teaching someone he doesn't feel is worthy of his time is the last thing my nephew needs."

"Oh, so he was your first choice, wasn't he?"

"Scott decided that in my stead."

"… Okay? This is kind of weird, Lance, if the kid's dad isn't-"

"You know damn well why Red isn't available."

Riley's mouth forms a small 'o' but he doesn't make a sound. He watches Lance with weary eyes, as if unsure why the man is this grumpy.

"You haven't let go of Orre, have you?" the younger man asks instead, changing the subject to something that makes Lance even grumpier.

"I can't," he huffs. "Don't ask me to do the impossible."

"I'm not. Just checking you won't flip out on me when I refuse as well."

"Riley," Lance sighs, as he runs a hand over his face in annoyance. "Brandon never even _met_ my nephew to decide on whether or not he wanted to teach him. He refused because of his experience trying to teach Palmer's kid."

"Huh? How does that make any sense?"

"It doesn't, except in Brandon's head."

"… Oh… Well, fine, I guess I'll see you at Celadon Central. Noon?"

"Half-past one, it'll give the kid a bit of time to finish his lunch."

Riley easily agrees and the man wonders if he's indeed that bored to just make plans as quickly as this. Then again, the current Aura users noticed the lack of new users and it kind of worried Lance as well. Ash isn't happy enough to ensure he won't reject his Aura too, but as far he knows, the boy has no hard feelings for the ability. Not even the psychic one he's somehow picked up along the way, which is remarkable enough. Will, who was born with the ability, still has a self-deprecating streak because of it.

Nevertheless, he's relieved to see Riley stand outside the hospital. He, again, sticks out like a sore thumb but then again, Riley seems to be able to spot him just as easily, as the younger man looks up from his transceiver at approximately the same time Lance spots him.

"Finally entered the twenty-first century?" he asks, motioning towards the device that seems relatively new and clashes with Riley's sense of style.

"Got it from a raffle a good year ago," the other answers with a shrug. "I still don't know what to use it for, other than to play games on it."

Looking at it from up close, it indeed doesn't seem cutting-edge technology but nevertheless, it a far stretch for someone who used the same payphone on the same street for years. Lance remembers he chucked Riley's number after the payphones were removed.

"You might want to add mine in it, just in case," he says and hands him a card.

Riley accepts it but looks at a loss on what to do with it. Lance leaves him be and starts walking into the hospital, figuring the other will follow him anyway. The nurse up front nods at him as he passes, she already knows who he is and who he is visiting, in fact, Lance is pretty sure she has already met Ash. The kid is way too good at getting to know all the right people but he seems just as apt at knowing all the terribly bad ones altogether.

"Ready?" he asks, his hand on the doorknob, while Riley stands a bit further from him, looking at him expectantly.

"I guess so, yeah. Just so you know, I hope this _is_ worth my time, because I can't feel anything whatsoever. That's not normal for any kid."

Of all the things Riley could've said right in front of the door, this just had to be the worst one possible. Ash didn't even need any psychic ability to hear it, there was a huge crack under the door, big enough so that a small pokémon could wriggle its way underneath it. Which, according to a nurse, had already happened once or twice, when a pokémon from the garden somehow found their way into the hospital and tried to get to Ash that way.

"Don't say that right where the kid can hear it."

"He can't hear me here."

Lance doesn't want to bet on that at all but enters the room. He sees Ash perk up at the sound of the door opening and he can't help but smile widely at his nephew.

"Lance!" the boy exclaims in delight. "You're early."

"I know, I brought someone along for the ride."

"Riley!"

The man fights the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose but he brings up a hand to his face anyway. Where the hell did _these_ two meet, then?

"Oh, hello, Ash. It's been a while," Riley says, nodding in greeting. "Still jumping in front of pokémon or…?"

The teen laughs sheepishly and Lance feels like he's already gotten his answer.

"So did you need to save him from getting his ass beat by a pokémon?" he asks, facing Riley but then turns to Ash. "-or was it you?"

"Both," the two said in unison and somehow, the man figures the two are a perfect match when it comes to characteristics.

"Right, well… Riley's here to help you with your Aura, Ash, though it's entirely up to him if he goes through with it or not."

"I know," Ash says and the younger man sighs.

"Sorry, I didn't think you would've heard. But I will help you, Ash, I know you mean well enough and if anything, you're a great kid."

"Aww, thanks, Riley. That means a lot, coming from you."

The man seems surprised but takes it in stride.

"Now, show me your Aura."

"Oh, okay," the teen says and reaches to grab something from the nightstand next to his bed. "Here you go," he adds and leaves whatever he grabbed in other's hand.

Riley stares at it with a dumb look on his face and Lance sees a glittery pink ball lay in his hands.

"… Why are you giving me this?"

"You wanted to see my Aura, didn't you?" Ash says and points at the orb. "That's it. Dunno why it changed into a ping-pong ball, but it did. It's a good one too."

The man bounced it as if he didn't believe the teen. He fumbles to catch it when it proves to be a very bouncy kind of ping-pong ball.

"Hot damn, Ash, how bored are you?" he asks and looks at Ash in disbelief when the boy chuckles. "Why are you laughing?"

"Sounds familiar. But, wouldn't you? I'm stuck here, I can't go anywhere."

The look Riley gives the remainder of the child's leg reminds Lance of a very bad experience and he looks away.

"I'm so sorry, Ash, I didn't mean to say that, I… God, this is very special."

"Thank you," the boy answers. "So, are you gonna teach me?"

"As well as I can, I mean, I'm confused. To make this," Riley starts as he holds up the ping-pong ball. "-you must have a terribly big reserve of Aura but I can't feel anything."

"No? Pokémon don't have any issue finding me, though. Pretty sure they use Aura too."

"They do, but _I_ am not a pokémon. Pokémon can go to one location once and still find their way back years later. They make mental waypoints, people usually don't unless they're skilled in doing so. I'm not, on the contrary even."

"Maybe it's so big you can't make out the difference," Ash jokes but the look Riley gives him tell lance he took it deadly seriously.

"Or maybe you're so uncomfortable and nervous that you've put a vice grip on it so that you need specialised pokémon to find you," he answers.

"Maybe both?"

"… Maybe so, but I'm not sure. You can use it freely?"

"The spheres? Yeah, sure."

"Show me, please," Riley asks and looks stunned to find Ash can indeed call out a sphere, even if it's a tiny one. "Geez, I can't feel _anything_!"

"What is it supposed to feel like, then?" the boy asks and the sphere disappears quickly. "Maybe I can help you."

"It's a lot like… Well, you've probably seen a Hyper Beam from up close, haven't you?"

"Yeah."

"It's like that, only vertically so. The person is the base of the beam, while their power shoots up accordingly to have strong they are."

"… But… To see light, it needs to be dark, right?" Ash suddenly says and it even makes Lance frown. "I'm sorry, it's the vice grip," he adds. "Can that be fixed?"

"Whoa, whoa, how did you come to that conclusion so quickly?" Riley asks and looks from the man to the boy. "Ash? Is everything alright?"

"The special pokémon you mentioned, it… It became really dark when they wanted to find me."

The silence in the room was deafening and Lance wants nothing more than to leave. It's another part of Orre he brought along with him, his fear of the dark and whatever it was hiding in it. To hear Ash can't let go of it is worrying as well as sickening.

"None of it is your fault, Ash," he sighs as he lays a hand on his nephew's arm.

"I know. But it is what it is."

"True," Riley adds softly.

"So… The vice grip… Can that be fixed?"

"Yes, but it's going to take a lot of work. It's not going to be easy with your injury either, Aura doesn't like an incomplete body and it'll try and compensate."

"It's not going to grow another limb anywhere else, is it?" the boy asks with obvious disgust.

"No, but something you might, as you ease your hold on your Aura, are external signs. Subtle, though, most you will see is a change of colour somewhere. Most common is a lock of hair changing the colour of your Aura but it's not going to be prominent. At least, with you I figure it's not, you obviously don't want to be found."

"Not any longer, no."

"Can I ask… The one responsible for this…," Riley asks as he gently lays a hand on the boy's leg. "Do you think it found you through Aura?"

"Yes," Ash answers. "From far away. Like, _really_ far away."

"I see…"

They have a bit more small talk and Riley gives the teen a bit of advice on how to self-meditate, as well as the promise to return the next day, at around three. Lance, who still feels a bit nervous, goes out first, but not without giving his nephew a good hug. When he exits the room, the other man sighs deeply but waits to talk until they're out of the hallway.

"What do you make of him?" he asks.

"He's got a good head on his shoulders, that much is sure. I like a person who can give you an answer with absolute certainty, after all, but he's special. Also, the colour, did you see that?"

"You mean, the ping-pong ball?"

"It was pink _and_ gold, Lance."

"Yes?"

"It's never reported before, it's a _new_ colour. A _new_ colour with _new_ , unfindable properties. A young boy at that. He's from a new generation of Aura users, Lance, he's a _first_ ," Riley says, a wide, enthusiastic smile on his face and his eyes shine accordingly.

"Which means?"

"That you have an amazing nephew. One who might help us learn how to find the others of this new generation of Aura users."

"As long as you don't involve Ash in things without asking me first, you're free to do whatever you want," Lance says and finds himself pleased that he's found a teacher for his nephew who has a much better opinion on him than Brandon could ever have.

"Of course not, I would never endanger the boy that way, he's too precious, oh, I need to research how to be able to feel his Aura. Or perhaps, it's like he says, maybe it's only visible for pokémon. Can I have pokémon in his room?"

"Pikachu was right on Ash's lap. Asleep, but he was there."

"Cool, I'll have Lucario out next time. So many possibilities, I like the sound of this, Lance."

"I'm glad you're looking forward to working with him. That being said, is there anything I can do to help him? If anything, I know that Aura acts like their host, so if he's got the Aura in a vice grip, he's not comfortable at all, right?"

"True, but it could have everything to do with his fear of being found, or his Aura trying to protect him. A severe leg is terrible news for Aura, I wasn't kidding when I said it could pose difficulties. But, if you feel like helping, there's nothing better than getting to know someone well enough so they can relax in your presence. As soon as Ash learns he can relax, it might be easier to get to him. That being said, it's possible that his Aura isn't _meant_ to be found by humans at all. He's said it himself, he said that pokémon could find him"

"I'm glad you're listening to him. But, why not take a detour so I can show you exactly what he means by that?"

Riley gives him a strange look but follows him into the garden anyway. He's as good as smothered with pokémon who do recognise him for what he is and Lance watches on as the creatures leave him well enough alone. Although there's a Pidgeot staring at him and he's getting the distinct impression that it's staring at him for a reason. Perhaps, next time he's there, he needs to keep the window open. It's funny how the Pidgeot nods and flies off after he says that much to it and now Lance feels a bit weird because he doesn't know if this pokémon is Ash's or not.

He's still got a lot to learn and hearing his nephew was even weirder than Red or Riley himself, made him wonder if Ash would ever trust him as much as he obviously trusted his mother. Maybe he could bring Clair along next time, see if her enthusiasm could entice Ash to smile a bit more too. Nevertheless, the kid did fine with Riley, despite having met the man already. Not too long ago, the teen had been crying in his shoulder and if his shoulder wasn't available, Ash would just cry into the pillow with Pikachu hugged closely to his chest. All in all, it's been a good development and he can't wait to see if he can help the boy become the best version of himself.


	10. Let's Get This Started

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isn't it lovely when you get a week of sick leave from work but it's because you've somehow got an infection in both hands? Thanks to Cortana to help me type, even if it was super awkward to speak out loud. Even though there's no one to hear it.  
> Anyhow, the chapter's written with a lot of love from me and Windows so I hope you enjoy it!

The night shift nurses don't know what to make of him and frankly, neither does Ash. He kind of recognises their faces by now and one even remarks that she's not seen him sleep at all in the three weeks she's returned from a couple of weeks of sick leave. Ash dodges that bullet by being concerned for her, even if that was his initial reaction. So now he's stuck with the idea he's kind of a sneaky bastard too, even though he's not feigning his concern for them. He does really care but the ship has sailed and now none of the night shift nurses want to talk to him any longer because they're not dumb either. They're here to care for the patients, not the other way around.

So now he's underneath the cover of his bed, he's dragged Pikachu and Gible along for the ride and the nurses won't even see what he's doing because he's stuffed his transceiver underneath his pillow and so it won't shine through any light. He knows they know he's not asleep but they can't say anything if he's not disturbing them. And yes, apparently just being awake and looking at them as they passed was disturbing enough for them so now he figures that, if he can't see them, they won't see him. Problem fixed, in his opinion.

Besides, this gives him some time to get used to working with his transceiver too, it's been a while since he's last touched it and he already needs a moment to find the group chat, as he rather talks with each of his friends separately than all of them together. It becomes jarring if they all start talking to him in unison and the moment he gets a name wrong, it all goes to hell, as his friends are more than capable of navigating through the jungle of words. Nevertheless, he finds the group chat after a little searching but he doesn't read it. He'll do it when he's out of this hospital because he doesn't need to give them another reason to worry about him, even though he's already cooked up a much worse version of that group chat in his head.

He downloads the content of it, though and stores it away, for later. Now, he silently watches people make cute gadgets from resin. He likes the colour and he notices that a lot of these things are pink too. Not the same pink as his Aura but it's similar nonetheless. The idea that people _like_ this shifting gold to pink colour makes him feel fuzzy and he ends up sharing it on his own, small social media page. The result isn't too dramatic, though he gets a couple of reactions nonetheless. May is the first to spot his addition and she shares it too, with a bunch of hearts and stuff. Iris is the second but her reaction isn't that cute.

-Why the hell are you awake?- her message reads and Ash can already hear her call him a little kid.

He's honest and tells her he's not tired and she goes off at him on how he's supposed to be taking care of himself. Ash belatedly realises she's not sent this to his personal chat with her, instead she did it on this _blasted_ group chat. He doesn't scroll up to see his own dramatic death notice but he sees enough, nonetheless. He's not a coward like Trip or Paul, who had been roasting Barry for some reason or another the day before yesterday, if he's got beef with the kid, he'll call him out separately… But what was up with Barry anyway? He's heard his name pass a whole lot more than usual and he doubts it's got anything to do with his change of scenery and guardian.

Then, the cherry on the cake, _Gary_ , of all people asks him the same thing. Ash knows he shouldn't be awake at three in the morning but he suddenly feels sassy and sends back a message on how he's dead and that he can do whatever the hell he wants. Gary doesn't answer that, in fact, there's a bit of awkward silence after his statement. Dawn comes to Ash's rescue, though and asks him why he shared that video, saying she didn't think he would like that stuff. He responds on how the video ended with the message to like and share the video of you like cookies and he very much likes cookies so that's what he did. The change of subject seems to give Gary the courage to tell him to 'go fuck himself'. Ash tells him to come fuck him himself and then Gary tells him he sucks.

-And you swallow- the teen sends back and he puts his transceiver on silent, not wanting to see another message for now.

Gary's apparently still angry at him but Ash feels like he's entitled to still act like a kid so he pastes a skull emoji next to his profile name. He knows it doesn't mean 'death' at all but it'll get the message through without being rude. Even though that ship has already sailed too, his mother would've had his hide if she knew he sent this… but she doesn't care so why should he? He stuffs his transceiver away for a bit but his curiosity lures him back to the screen and what do you know? Paul, of all people, calls him out for being rude and Ash smiles at the irony of it all. He doesn't even make the slightest effort in correcting him and just sends a smiley face, attaching the vile stuff Paul's sent to Barry a couple of days ago. Paul doesn't answer after that, rightly so.

Ash puts the transceiver away for real this time and he's extra sneaky as he gently pushes the cabinet drawer close. The last thing he wants is an angry nurse go off at him now, he's already feeling a bit antsy just having spoken to a couple of his friends. The ones who weren't awake to witness this will probably answer in the morning but he doesn't want to witness any of it. Instead, he pulls Pikachu close to him and snuggles back into the sheets. Ash makes a point in laying with his back towards the door, that way no one can complain he's staring at them.

'I wonder what it's going to be like,' he thinks as he remembers Riley's enthusiasm.

He's kind of pleased the man is enthusiastic when posed with a challenge, Ash knows he's weird and well, the Aura community has existed for a while, hasn't it? Rota looked super medieval and there were like, traditions and stuff so there's bound to be some kind of trades and things that got lost in time, right? What if he doesn't fit any kind of role of profile Riley knows? Will the man ever be able to like, see his Aura anyway? Ash doesn't mind the vice grip thing now that he's got some time to think about it, maybe his Aura had always been like that? Something must've become different but it doesn't make much sense on how every single pokémon in Kanto is apparently able to pick up on something a trained Aura person can't He's not even sure what Riley is but Ash sure as heck knows he doesn't need to know what he is to know who he is or what he's capable of.

"… Is he asleep?" he suddenly hears and he's already grinning.

"I dunno, look… the lump's shaking, he's laughing at us."

He is, he admits that and he can't stop giggling even as he hears them leave. Gosh, it must be so confusing to watch him but he can't help it, he's not sleepy or tired. Hasn't been since he's started getting annoyed at his own lack of progress. Ash wants to move, wants to go forward but people are blocking his way and it frustrates him a lot. That's why he thinks about everything except that, hence why he's already made up an entire story of how his Aura must be this small but extremely bright beam of light coming from the smallest of cracks, that this darkness that day wasn't meant to draw in pokémon at all. They can see him all just fine, it's was all to cause the people to worry and draw the big one's attention. Ash doesn't believe for a second Arceus is watching him twenty-four seven and that's why everyone caused this mini-hell on earth situation. That the sun didn't come up was probably just Dialga stopping time in total.

It doesn't matter if he's wrong, either, no one wants to talk to him about it so he might as well just believe in his own version and move along. Besides, is there anyone who knows the full truth, anyway? It all depends on the matter of perspective and this is exactly the issue Ash thinks Riley might encounter. What if he, as an adult man, is exactly the kind of person he doesn't want around him? The teen isn't used to men around him, young ones, yes… but the only father figure he ever had was professor Oak, a much older man. The younger adult men… well, the ones he met nearly all were criminals so yeah, he totally didn't want those around. Heaven forbid he would set foot on another region and draw in another asshole wanting to control him.

'Nah, I don't think that'll ever happen. Even if Dialga doesn't ever come back, there's enough trigger-happy pokémon around me. Pikachu being the fastest of them all,' he thinks and he settles down with a smile on his face.

Gosh, he does love his pokémon a lot. Ash hopes with all his heart he'll be released out of this hospital soon so he can finally give them their much-needed grooming session and some love and care. They need it as much as his other friends, they got a big scare and all they have is some sort of weird remainder of their trainer trying to compensate with the little means he had. He'll need to do better… in his new home and this hospital.

* * *

Dr. Lotus doesn't mention anything of his lack of sleep, thankfully but that might be because Ash just saw himself in the mirror in the tiny bathroom and he looks just like he did yesterday so, nothing to worry about there. The man does have a wheelchair with him but his face isn't portraying many positive emotions. Thanks to what happened with the nurses, the teen feels a bit scared to ask the doctor what's up but he gets an inkling when he's guided into the training hall.

"A package came for you this morning," the doctor says, sounding pleasant enough. "Brandon's not in today, so you're going to be working with Cindy instead. I suggest to keep the wheelchair around, you might not have the energy to walk back on your crutches."

"Okay, thank you, doctor," Ash answers, even though he's _bursting_ with energy.

"Right… well, here you go, then. Try not to think about it too much, okay?"

That was a weird comment to make but the teen nods anyway. He's quick to turn to the young girl who's giving him a sunny smile.

"Hi, Cindy," he says. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm great," she answers, with an Unovan accent. "How are you today?"

"Ready for anything you'll send at me."

"Anything?" she teases.

"… Except for man-eating creatures, yeah."

The girl giggles but then she turns to slide a pretty hefty looking box forward. It probably was the package dr. Lotus was talking about but Ash is none the wiser on what it could be hiding. He doesn't know anyone who told him they would send him a package either, actually. Unless…

"Is that…?" he asks, eyes wide with disbelief.

"It is," she says, nodding along. "Do you want to see it before your warm-up or after?"

"Oh, after. I wanna put it on straight away."

Whether or not she liked his enthusiasm, Cindy didn't mention it and honestly, she's a lot more forceful than Brandon. Ash hated to think he was going easy on him for some reason. She also makes no claims in touching his left leg and oh, it's a bit uncomfortable but nothing he can't handle.

"Did that hurt?" Cindy asks after an exercise that had put some pressure on his stump.

"No, I felt it but it didn't hurt."

"Good, let's continue."

She continued the warm-up _way_ longer too, Ash is actually sweating by the end of it, which is a first. The girl compliments his stamina and she's clearly sweating too but she's not giving up. The box is her priority now and the teen is blown away by the first look of his prosthesis.

"I… It's really Pikachu yellow," he utters, face breaking out in delight because Eleanor had listened to him! She had remembered!

"Do you like it?" Cindy asks.

"I do, I really do, holy moly."

By itself, the socket and foot looked ordinary enough, they have a black, carbon fibre look but the middle part compensating for his calf… Dear lord, it's something pretty, alright. Ash suspects it's some type of resin because most of the middle part is clear, other for a couple of thunderous looking clouds swirling around in it and then, the lightning bolt slicing through the middle of it.

"Can I try it on?"

"That was the plan," the girl says.

And just as he gets the awesome looking prosthesis attached on his legs, doubts start to frown because it's not a comfortable feeling. It's not _super_ uncomfortable but it's not nice either. In fact, it just feels plain weird… And he's not even standing on it yet.

'No,' Ash tells himself. 'Man up, you owe it to all these people. What's Lance going to say when you can't walk in these after he and Agatha did such a massive effort in asking all these people to donate for this cause? Eleanor must've put so many hours in making this, listening to your bullshit request and everything. You owe it to yourself to, you'll never be able to go home if you can't even deal with a minor setback.'

He swallows hard but he wills himself to 'man' up and tries to get up by himself. That hadn't been the reaction Cindy had expected, she scrambles up to help him stand but heavens, he stands. The first time since the accident and it almost brings tears to his eyes. Almost. Ash is a bit distraught by the feeling of discomfort at the sensitive stump. Well, it's just going to have to deal with it too, he's not taking it off out of weakness.

"What do I do now?" he asks when he's standing.

The girl watches him in disbelief but starts guiding him to this strange-looking frame. It's got a treadmill looking track running in the middle of it with two bars sticking out at the sides. Cindy lets him walk in the middle of it and it… kind of works out. Kind of. He's strong enough, he's willing enough but it's such a weird feeling and it's almost like…

'Wait a minute,' Ash thinks and stands still for a moment.

He tries to calm down for a minute and he allows his Aura to travel. He's not sure what he's doing but he can feel Cindy's gaze on him so he knows whatever he's doing is showing up. It doesn't matter, they already know he's weird so he might as well go ahead and remain that way… but oh, he feels a bit better after his Aura kind of had a little feel at it. He's still not sure whether he likes this feeling or not but he likes the idea of the freedom this prosthesis can give him. And that's what his Aura enjoys too.

"Are you okay?" Cindy asks.

"I'm fine. Is this good?"

"Kid, this is amazing. You've not complained at all, it's a miracle."

Ash preens in the attention, he likes this too. As he looks down, he feels weird to see the black foot next to his normal foot but it's kind of a look. He gets to keep it on too, he's going to have to learn to sit with it, though Cindy gives him the advice to never wear it to bed. The stump is sensitive -as if he doesn't realise that- and it needs it's time to settle down after an effort. So that happens and before he knows it, he's back in his room, the tray with his lunch in front of him. He's got his leg back, though and it's done wonders on his mood.

News of his amazing performance seems to have made its rounds, though, not a couple of minutes after the nurse came to fetch his tray, dr. Knight comes into the room with a wide smile on his face. It's a nice change, actually, usually, people come in looking a little apprehensive.

"I heard some good news," the therapist grins.

'These people are way worse than Pallet, at least it takes a day before everyone knows. It's not even been two hours,' Ash thinks but he smiles at the man.

"I walked again."

"I heard you did! Good job, buddy, you can be massively proud of yourself."

"I am, I am. Is it that rare for someone to do that, first try?"

"Not rare but kids usually end up crying. Then again, you've had a bit more time, you were supposed to already _be_ walking. It's got everything to do with revalidation, you know? But you're a strong one, I can tell. You're sitting here, all smiles… It warms my heart, Ash, it really does. I hated seeing you so mad at me that day but do you think it helped?"

"Not really, I never counted on it to help either. I just thought you all were curious but I guess I can kind of trust you all to know what to expect from me now."

"Is that important to you?"

"You knowing my history? I guess not. Mom doesn't know half of what you know, dr. Knight and she's still alive, isn't she?"

"Alive, yes but living? Perhaps," the man sighs. "I've grown a lot of respect towards you, Ash. And perhaps you'll have a better time with your new temporary new guardian, he was here, holding your hand throughout the entire session."

"I know that. He listens too. I like that a lot about people, it shows people care. A lot of people don't and I find that sad."

"It is very sad, indeed. Have you already gotten a hold of your friends?"

"Err yeah…I have. I feel like I'm still not good at talking to people through the phone, I dunno. I mean, you can see, if you want to."

"I do, actually. I'm curious."

Ash isn't the slightest bit ashamed when he brings the group chat out on the screen, even if he can see in dr. Knight's eyes that he too doesn't like the small timestamp underneath these messages he's sent. The therapist at least has the decency to keep quiet about it but that might be because he can see what kind of reaction he'll get.

"And here I was thinking you weren't angry at Gary, huh?"

"I'm not but I don't need stupid questions from him, he lives in the same damn region, he shouldn't have been awake at that time either. He's going to have to choose between a jerk and a hypocrite, he can't be both at the same time or I'll explode."

"You're a loaded cannon, Ash," the man chuckles as he hands him back his transceiver. "But you're not wrong, he's a bit late in trying to sound concerned about you."

The teen doesn't know what to make of that, he didn't think Gary send that message out of concern. You don't tell someone to go fuck themselves if you were concerned. And it's not as if he blew him off without a good reason either, the asshole.

"Yeah well, he'll get his second chance from me, no matter what but he doesn't need to sound like my mom while I'm still sore about what he's done," Ash grumbles. "The last thing I need now is someone raining on my parade."

"It's not healthy to keep awake all night, though."

"You know what, dr. Knight? There's going to be a nice man visiting me at three o'clock, I'll ask if it could be my ability doing that. Because I don't know why I'm always awake at night, I honestly don't."

"Well, I'm not bothered, you're clearly not exhausted or anything so you do you, Ash. You're clearly doing something right."

'Oh, _am_ I?' he thinks but he doesn't voice it.

Dr. Knight is still in a cheerful mood so he doesn't want to rain on the man's parade either. But he's bothered too, it's not like it's fun, being awake all night, unable to move because there's sensitive pokémon sleeping on top of him and they'll be _real_ mad if he accidentally wakes them up. Nevertheless, he'll keep that question in mind until Riley comes by to give his opinion on the matter. In the meantime, he's going to sit and stare at his prosthetic limb. And once Pikachu wakes up, he'll show him the yellow and how great it is.

* * *

"You really ought to show your Pikachu that you can stand," Riley says, the instant he sees Pikachu still curled up and asleep on the boy's lap. "I think he's not too happy that you haven't been moving."

"You think so?"

"If you don't move, the pokémon won't either. Trust me, I've had Lucario on me for weeks that time I broke my leg in a freak accident. He's alright to be around but he weights a _ton_ , I swear. And he's was _on_ me, not next, not around, _on_ me. Just like Pikachu."

"Well, tomorrow, then. Cindy says it's no good to tire myself out."

"Yeah, but you know, buddy, that's going to be real hard to do. You're not just a kid, you're one with a large amount of Aura. I mean, it's noticeable," the man says, motioning towards the window where a couple of Pidgey were staring into the room, on top of a snoozing Furret.

"Yeah… Is it possible that I can't sleep because of that?"

Riley gives him a long and hard look before settling down in the chair next to his bed. He starts a story about what Ash assumes is the Aura community and he does a great description of various kinds of Aura users but the teen doesn't find one that resembles his experience at all. He decides not to bother the man and let him finish his story but apparently, that was a sign that something was wrong.

"Nothing of interest to you, hm?"

"Was it supposed to be?"

"Sort of. I was kind of expecting you to go 'ah' at a certain point but perhaps you're just too different from what I… Gosh, I should've taken Lucario along, maybe he would've felt something because I clearly can't reach your Aura at all. You're not afraid of me, are you?"

"Afraid? What are you gonna do? Fling something at me? Better be quick and make it count. You're only gonna get one shot and then it's over for you."

The man's taken aback by the statement but Ash isn't going to back down. He doesn't need a teacher who's going to be threatening him either, not when he's only just getting to grips with his prosthetic issue. Anything happens to him now and he's going to _scream_.

"… Yeah, you're not scared of me, alright."

"Lance would've never let you near me if you could be a threat. Well, a threat beyond being an adult man taller than me."

"Noted," Riley says. "You have enhancement, haven't you?"

"Of what?"

"Thinking, I would say. Or you've been listening to adult people around you… or TV."

"A little bit of everything, I suppose. I'm sorry, I'm a bit rude from time to time, I'll try and do better."

"Yeah but see, that's also really kind. You're a bit of a game-changer, I feel. In fact, you remind me of someone."

"I do?"

"She was very dear to me," Riley says and the fond smile appearing on his face is proof he's being honest. "She was a very special Aura user too, she believed in the pokémon gods and how nature was responsible for every kind of development."

"Nature's also responsible for people and I don't think that was a _good_ development at all," Ash says and the man gives smiles widely at him.

"She used to say the same thing."

"Then she probably saw a whole lot of misery next to the good in her life because I can't even tell _where_ it started to become a bad development. It's like the assholes of the world have always been there."

"She went through a war, Ash. She was one of the hunted because she was very special. A Source… and it's odd you decide to speak up at this time at all."

"Yeah?"

"Do you feel connected?"

"Just in ideology, I don't think I'm very special at all in that department," Ash deadpans. "I've seen a lot of evil too, I might not have been in a war but you try enjoying yourself when criminals keep following you around everywhere you go. And the way you tell me that she was special to you, makes me feel like I'm the opposite of what she was because I'm of little use to you. You can't even spot me."

"That's not possible, you can't be the opposite or else you would have drained my Aura the moment you made that Aura Sphere yesterday. It would have made you a Dark user, Ash and trust me, you wouldn't draw pokémon to you if you were," Riley answers calmly as he folds his hands in front of his lap. "Let me rephrase myself, you might not be scared of me… but I don't think you like people very much, do you?"

"I'd lend my Aura to you if I knew how to."

"… You can't do that."

Well, he can try though, 'unable' isn't in his dictionary and it's almost comical on how Riley's eyes widen when he _does_ feel the Aura. The teen just laid his arm on the man's too, all he needed was a connection and he was good to go. It's exactly how he got his Aura to like his prosthesis, after all, and it's not hard to do either.

" _How_ … How can it even _feel_ pink? Ash, what did you do?"

"Guide it into my arm?"

"It goes through your body?" Riley squeaks in surprise, voice going a bit too high to Ash's liking.

Pikachu isn't amused either, he springs up from where he had been resting with a truly murderous expression on his face. All the man can do is stick his hands up in surrender but Ash knows that won't do much good. In fact, it might still entice his buddy to burn Riley to a crisp with an excellently executed Thunderbolt, one of Pikachu's specialities.

"Hey, buddy?" he asks and the pokémon turns towards him, confused. "I've been meaning to show you, what do you think about this? Riley, can you-?"

"Sure, sure," the man says and he quickly hands the prosthesis to Ash, even though he seems a bit creeped out about it.

The teen doesn't care, Pikachu gives the leg a sniff and seems quite content with the yellow. The most important change in mood comes a bit later when Ash tells him he'll be able to walk with this and that, if he's awake tomorrow, he'll be able to witness him practising. The pokémon's cheered up and somehow stays awake now… but it's clear he's still keeping a close eye on Riley.

"That was a nice save," the man chuckles nervously. "I'm sorry, I'm just very confused."

"How do you make an Aura Sphere if it doesn't flow through your body?"

"My _arm_ , yeah, not my entire body. My Aura's got no business being at my feet."

"Mine does."

"Apparently so. God, I need Lucario here so badly, I didn't think pokémon were allowed."

"Clearly not," Ash deadpans as he reaches out to gently pat Gliscor's upside-down head.

"… Good point. I'm sorry, something's distracting me, I'll have to meditate for a bit. It might take a while, euhm… Can I leave you my number? That way, we can be in contact."

Ash agrees but he almost changes his mind when he spots the device.

"What is _that_?" he asks in disgust, as there are clumps of something absolutely disgusting -is that clay or…?- on it.

"… My phone?"

"How old is it?"

"I got it when I was fourteen."

"It looks prehistoric, Riley. Like it belongs on one of those trays, full of muddy objects, freshly dug up from some sort of historical site."

"… Look, I'm sixty years old this year but that doesn't mean I'm prehistoric, Ash."

" _Sixty_?!" Ash chokes.

"Yes? Members of a certain branch of Aura age slower. Also, you're one to talk, you hardly look ten-"

"I'm fourteen."

"… You are?"

"Listen here, grandpa-"

"Ash, you're a mystery. One I would like to see solved but it'll take a while. Please, let me."

"I will."

"Good. Also, don't call me grandpa, that feels weird."

"Does Lance know you're that old?"

"He's known me all his life, he at least has an inkling I'm a fair bit older than he is."

Ash's mind was reeling, was he going to turn out the same way? He doesn't like the idea his friends all going to look all wrinkly while he won't look a day over twenty years old. It makes him uncomfortable and he already knows this is going to keep him up for another night. Then again, if it was his Aura, he should just learn to live with it because by the sounds of it, he either was incredibly weak with some terribly unlucky side-effects or unimaginably powerful with some logical side-effects. It would be just his luck to be either of those, wouldn't it? Either way, if he proved to be absolutely useless to people, Ash would still be pleased because he _doesn't_ want to be used at all, by no one. Ever.

"So, send me a message someday, won't you? I'll come 'round then, wherever you are."

"So you think you'll able to find me then?"

"You're not going to be able to hide from Lucario, kiddo, you can try but you're going to fail hard."

"I won't, I like Lucario."

"Of course, you do. Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to get me something to drink and I'll return to talk a bit about the basics. Is that okay?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Do you want anything?"

"Nah, I'm fine, just had lunch a while ago, remember?"

"Oh, right. I'll be right back."

Ash nods and watches him leave. He smiles to himself because Riley is kind of funny. There must be a world of information inside the man's head but then again, a messy attic can contain a lot of valuable contents and it can still be a pain to find something in there so it could be Riley just went to clear his head. For all he knows, his Aura doesn't really like Riley, which wouldn't make much sense but it sure wouldn't be the first or the last thing that didn't make sense to him.

"Life becomes boring very quickly when everything makes sense."

"Mewtwo!" the boy exclaims with delight -he's not even careful because he knows the pokémon would never show up if there was someone near. "What are you doing here? It's not like you to come by at this hour?"

"I am not at risk of being seen. The Aura Guardian will be able to amuse himself with the machine at the end of the hallway for a good while," the creature answers and Ash clearly hears the jab at Riley's abysmal technical knowledge. "Here," it adds and holds out a toothbrush.

"… Thanks?"

"Prepare for impact. It could stain."

'Oh, _yes_ ,' he thinks because it seems like today is going to tick off a lot of things that were on his list of 'to-do-stuff-once-I-get-better'.

Dialga appears, hovering a little over the pristine white blanket. It doesn't land until Ash holds his hands out to catch the creature and even then, the pokémon gives the dusty, black mark it just left on the boy's hands a rueful look.

"I'm sorry, Dialga, I'll make it better, I promise."

Ash doesn't even have to ask anything, Mewtwo's got a bowl from somewhere and it's already filled with soapy water. Perfect to start cleaning so the teen gets to it right away. He doesn't say much, he likes the sound coming from Dialga as it realises the cleaning isn't hurtful. Ash takes pride in it, he's not hurt any of his pokémon during grooming in a little over three years. He's not an amateur in it any longer and he does care a lot about pokémon… even though he's confused on how a toothbrush could end up hurting Dialga. There's not much the plastic bristles can do against the full steel exterior of the creature but then again, maybe there's soft tissue somewhere. Ash doesn't take a gamble and so he continues the grooming session as carefully as he had started as.

It doesn't take long either, Dialga's a very smooth pokémon and the dirt was only sticking on lightly. But it's a bit ridiculous how long Riley was taking, Ash is already finished cleaning the shrunken pokémon when Mewtwo announces that the man has _finally_ gotten his drink and will return shortly. The pokémon teleports away with the filthy toothbrush and dirty bowl and it's only after Mewtwo's left, that the teen wonders where it had gotten the items from. It doesn't really matter but the nurses here _hated_ the soot with a passion, the room he had exploded in still had a couple of spots where the stuff had gotten lodged into. If one of them finds this brush and makes the connection to him…? Oh boy.

"These machines are torture devices," Riley says as he steps back into the room with… several cans of different kinds of soda in his arms. "I tap the damn thing for water over eight times and all it drops are sodas."

"… There's no water distributed in that machine, Riley," Ash answers, a bit confused on how the man managed to pass by the large, white machine with the huge upside-down water bottle on top of it. "It's the white one, right next to it."

"You're joking."

"I'm not, you've got the evidence right there in your arms."

"I should've taken you along, I'm no good with machines."

"Neither am I, so don't feel too bad," the teen says even though he knows he still knows the difference between a vending machine and a regular water dispenser.

Then again, he's not sixty years old, is he?

"You're sure you don't want anything? I mean, I've got some to spare."

"You can leave whatever you don't like over there, I'll drink 'em later."

"All of them? I don't even drink soda."

"… Sure, if you really want to get rid of them," Ash answers because he's not going to make a huge deal out of it.

Riley's clearly bothered already and appears quite happy to have gotten rid of the cans of unwanted soda. It's all alright again but the man still hasn't gotten his drink.

"I don't suppose I could… lure you into the wheelchair? You're allowed to go outside, aren't you?"

"I am, yeah."

"So you euhm… wouldn't mind showing me the water thing?"

"If you don't mind taking me down into the garden?"

"Oh, sure, that's no problem at all, let me just get this thing going then."

* * *

It had taken Riley half an hour to fold out the wheelchair. The poor man had seemed so lost until a nurse had come in, to check up on her patient and noticed him in distress. The look on his face when the nurse pushed one button to fold out the wheelchair was priceless but Ash felt bad for the man, who clearly hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings for at least a decade now.

"… I think it's better if I start living in a city again," the man says as he pushes the wheelchair through the hallway, with Ash helpfully holding the man's precious cup of water. "I mean, you'll get why it's so much nicer to live near pokémon but let me be an example of what happens when you don't live in a society of people for a while."

"Will you be okay, though, Riley? It's really different from living in a house than a tent."

"Which one do you like better?"

"The house. I like the safety it gives and I can always have pokémon inside it. And it'll also house the people I like too while there's really limited space in a tent and it just… doesn't do much. It can rain through or feel icky when it keeps raining, it's scary when it gets windy, it's stuffy when it gets too warm, sand blows through it. It's good if you're travelling, then it's just, oh what was it called again? I think it was acceptation of discomfort or something. Anyway, it just doesn't feel right sometimes. I don't think it's a good experience at all, either."

"Mm," the man hums. "I think I'll have a look around, see if I can't settle somewhere nice."

"You can always try the cities that have pokémon living in them, right? Like, okay, Lavender and Ecruteak are kind of filled with ghosts but there are places like Fuchsia who have the Safari zone and those cities usually have a link to nature. It sometimes feels a bit touristic but it's better than nothing."

"I don't mind ghosts but Lavender isn't a good place to be at as an Aura user. The force of Life is better left separated from death, Ash."

"Oh… Sorry, I didn't know."

"Have you ever travelled through Lavender?"

"Yeah, even slept in the city domain itself. They didn't bother me at all, I even found a Haunter there. Funny little guy, he's keeping Sabrina company."

"Then you're a stronger person than I am," Riley says simply.

"Are you afraid of death?"

"No, but I am afraid of what I could cause if I do... So perhaps, yes and no."

"Oh yeah, people always tell me I should think a bit more of myself when I do something stupid and when I tell them I still would've done it no matter what, they always drag Pikachu in the mess too. Say I should pay more attention to my health for him. So I guess you're not alone in that."

"It's not much of a comfort but thank you for understanding, Ash," the man chuckles "Will you be okay in the garden?"

"Of course, but you're not going to leave me stranded there, are you?"

"I meant the pokémon. If they're sitting in front of your window, they're definitely going to approach you now as well. I got covered in them just the other day."

"Awesome, can't wait," Ash grins and he would've rubbed his hands together if only he wasn't holding the plastic cup. "But if you're talking about the Pidgey in front of my window, they're probably related to Pidgeot and I think they're just there to keep an eye on me. Either way, I don't care if they're going to come sit on me, I think they're cute."

"They are but aren't all Pidgeys kind of related to Pidgeot?"

"I meant my Pidgeot."

"Yours? Did it escape your regional professor?"

"No, I released him because he wanted to be free."

"Long story?" Riley asks.

"No, that's it. He wanted to be free so that's why I let him go. He loves me still, I know that, Pigeot comes by when I'm back in Kanto so there are no hard feelings between the two of us," Ash answers but frowns. "I also don't get why some people tell me I'm a bad trainer whenever I tell them this story, shouldn't everyone care about their pokémon's feelings? I mean, some pokémon love battling but some just… aren't cut out of the right material for it. It's just like people, some are good trainers and some just aren't. It's not that hard to understand, is it?"

"But it goes against everything that's being taught," the man says. "I understand where you're coming from and it's very noble of you to care that much but I don't see a new trainer bend down into the grass and ask a Rattatta to be their first pokémon."

"I can if they're bending down into the grass and asking the Rattatta to be their pokémon if they have a bit of food in their hands and show a bit of compassion. But you're right, showing emotions is bad, isn't it?"

"Emotions give a lot away, though," Riley starts but not before sighing. "Did you know that there was a particular trick used in the war to make Aura users smile? And yes, the reaction ratted them out straight away. So that's why _I_ was told not to smile too often."

"Oh yes, the Rattatta's bound to pull a gun on you if you smile at it, I forgot," Ash answers and he rolls his eyes while doing so.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"We were talking about a young kid talking to a little pokémon. Not a trained adult to a bunch of assholes with weapons."

"How do you know they had weapons?"

"They always do," the teen shrugs. "Whether it's a stick or a gun or some fashionable taser, they'll have whatever it takes to hurt you. No matter what kind of a strong person you are, they'll know what'll hurt you because these asshole _lurk_. They get to know you before they face you."

The man doesn't say anything as he gently lays a hand on the boy's shoulder. Ash doesn't mind, he doesn't like understanding how Riley feels either. But that doesn't mean he needs to like how often the man refers to this war. He doesn't get how people always try and talk about their trauma, how can you even try to forget if you keep mentioning it? That's why he never talks about it, he wants to forget and he can't do it when the memories are being kept so fresh and… yeah, he hates how Riley is still suffering from this 'war' he knows nothing about. He guesses that, at some point, Aura users got hunted but unless this war is still ongoing, Ash feels like the man should let it go already and you know, not talk about it as if it happened yesterday.

He almost says something that would probably have sounded terribly rude but his attention is pulled towards the garden. They just rounded the last corner and it looks so _glorious_ Ash can't wait to get there. He wishes he would have put on his prosthesis but remembers he was told not to walk in it today, that he should rest but he wants to get to the garden as quickly as possible. The fresh air hits him like a cold shower and he feels so elated when he sees all the pokémon turn around and look at him.

"Can I go sit in the grass?" he asks gingerly as he holds out the cup of water towards Riley.

"Sure, I'll-"

The man didn't need to do anything, Ash was quick to slide out of the wheelchair. He's still kind of careful, he's holding the tiny Dialga in one arm and he can't walk on one leg without his crutches. But he makes do, crawling works just fine too and _oh_ , the grass feel heavenly. He flops down on it and giggles when it doesn't take long for a whiskered, wet nose to touch his cheek. It's a Furret, or rather, it's a group of them and they're all watching him curiously. Ash totally expects them to pounce on him, that's what wild, enthusiastic pokémon do… but they don't. They're just watching him and he gets the distinct impression that they're keeping their distance because of the Dialga in his arms. It's funny because Pikachu doesn't give a hoot and comes to sit on him like nothing's different about him.

"Okay?" Riley asks, sounding a bit concerned.

"More than okay," Ash answers as he's smiling from ear to ear. "It's so nice outside, it makes me feel all tingly."

A rustle behind him catches his attention and he can't be happier to see Pidgeot hop towards him. His pokémon looks glorious, he's been taking good care of himself and gosh, there's an awful lot of Pidgey looking at them now.

"You've been keeping busy, huh?" he chuckles and Pidgeot, who probably doesn't get the innuendo, chirps enthusiastically and proudly puffs up his chest.

He's happy to see his pokémon again and even though a Flying-type pokémon rarely is cuddle material, Pidgeot allows the hug. Ash makes sure not to ruffle his feathers too much, he suddenly feels tired and totally not capable of grooming another pokémon. In fact, he could do with a nap, to be honest. Checking on Riley, Ash sees that the man is too busy enjoying his cup of water to mind him, so the teen lays down in the grass and closes his eyes for a second. No one would mind a quick nap, right?

* * *

Riley straight up panics when he found Ash unresponsive. He had only turned to look at the kid when he suddenly hadn't heard any sound or movement next to him and that could well have been over an hour ago. He's always pleased to have some water but hell, Lance would have his head if something happened to his nephew while on his watch! So he did the best thing he could think of, which was depositing the kid back in the wheelchair -which was kind of awkward because Ash felt more like a bag of potatoes and was all limp and loose- and drive him back into his room.

It wasn't until he's got Ash in his arms, to lay him back in the bed, that Riley hears the soft snore coming from the boy. He still tucks him in, he already thought it to be strange that the kid had asked him if his Aura had been responsible for keeping him awake, which honestly seemed a bit farfetched if you asked him. Riley certainly isn't a stranger to weird Aura and side-effects but it works against all logic to tire someone out like this for no good reason. Unless Ash was upset enough to be stuck inside which, in hindsight, might be the reason why he hadn't slept since the day he had ended up in this hospital again. He feels bad about it and even as he passes the boy's doctor, he's lost in thoughts on what he could do.

"Sir?"

Riley pauses and looks at the man, who's watching him.

"Yes, doctor?"

"How was he? Ash, I mean?"

"Good? He's asleep now."

"Now?!" the man asks and looks bewildered. "Really?"

"I took him to the garden. He seemed happy to be there so maybe that's got something to do with it," he says and hopes the doctor takes the hint and allowed Ash outside a bit more often.

Just the mere thought of having to be stuck inside for over a month causes his hair on his arms to stand on end. It's basically the worst thing you could do to a powerful Aura user but who would have guessed a fourteen-year-old would somehow be that powerful, huh? Oh yeah, Riley knows, the pokémon in the garden hadn't reacted much to Ash being in the garden, meaning it didn't care where he was at all. They could feel him wherever he was and that was kind of odd, especially since he couldn't feel a damn thing. Unless Ash touched him, which was another strange asset of the kid.

"Is it that important to… his kind?" the doctor says hesitantly. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to sound disrespectful, I'm trying to learn but I don't know how…"

"It's alright, doctor. But yes, it is. Is there no possibility of keeping his window open for a couple of hours a day?"

"But… the pokémon."

"Is it really the end of the world if they come in, though?"

"I guess not, no," the man sighs, looking defeated, his shoulders sagging. "Thank you, sir, we'll try and do better."

"No problem," Riley answers but knows that it's not that hard to understand Ash.

He's brash enough to tell you straight to your face what his issue is and he admires the kid for it. It takes some courage to do that and it comes so delightfully natural to him too. However, enough was enough and perhaps it was around about time he went to talk to Lance. There's only so much a person can take and it could well be that Ash is at his limit. So, he takes out his ratty little cellphone and calls the man up, hoping he wasn't interrupting something. Then again, Riley uses his phone so little that it might have given lance a sense of urgency to answer because it doesn't even ring once.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Lance, it's me, Riley."

"Hey, what can I do for you?"

"It's about Ash, we've just finished… well, nothing happened, I didn't get my introduction either, he fell asleep before I could continue."

"He fell asleep?"

"It's my fault, you know what kind of an idiot I am with technology and I just wanted a cup of water-"

"Riley, you misunderstand, Ash hasn't been seen asleep for weeks now," Lance says and he sounds a bit too serious all of a sudden. "What did you do?"

"I took him to the garden. He asked me that."

"Just that?"

"Yes, just that. Listen, Lance… Don't you think it's about time you asked them about his release? I feel like he could use a bit of… you know, less disinfectant and white walls. People wearing scrubs all the time and things like that."

"I can ask, yes but it all depends on how his revalidation is going."

"Good, as far as I could notice, all he needs is a bit of urging to wear his prosthesis, a hand up and he's good to go."

"Wait, what?" Lance asks, sounding shocked. "What do you mean, prosthesis? They delivered it already?"

"It is. It got Pikachu approved too."

"And he's already walking?"

"I got the impression that he did, yes."

"… Right, yeah, I'll talk to them. He's got plenty of space at my place to walk too."

"That's what I was thinking too. Besides, I would feel a lot more comfortable bringing Lucario along to your place than here, I mean, he's not a common pokémon here in Kanto at all and I don't want a line of kiddies all wanting to pet him. You know how he is with that, he's a sucker for hands," Riley sighs.

The statement drew a chuckle from Lance but it had happened before and he would like to avoid it happening again, thank you very much. At least he's sure he's just done a good deed for Ash because he's worried for the teen. For a young boy to sound so jaded about people the whole time, it's concerning and he at least wants to make sure he's at least seen _one_ example of a person who can care for him without needing anything in return. And the fact that Ash didn't feel the slightest bit attracted to any kind of trade from the Aura community was just another challenge for him. Maybe it all had to do with the boy's annoyance at his situation, maybe it would be easier if he met the kid in a place where they both were comfortable. Ash was kind of sharp and all angle here and he just hoped that would change with the scenery and a bit of time. He had never met such a peculiar student, after all, but he's more than happy about it. Maybe it was time for _him_ to change as well.

* * *

Lance is nervously drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he waits for the cars in front of him to start moving. It's always a tedious mess to cross between Johto and Kanto and the recent terrorist threats from Orre have somehow succeeded in making everything a little worse by making everyone nervous and prone to mistakes. As such, border controls started to take much longer than normal and everyone involved a lot more annoyed. He was at no risk of being interrogated or, in the worst-case scenario, arrested, he had nothing in the car and as an officer, Lance could come and go as he pleases. Doesn't mean they don't check his car on occasion and with him being this nervous, chances are they _will_ do it this time around.

Just because he's with the G-men doesn't mean he's a saint, so if they do want to bother him, they're free to do so. His reason for his nervosity isn't inside the car yet anyway. And this is probably going the last time he'll be crossing the border back and forth this year, hopefully. A bit of a cynical sentence because it's half December but knowing his nephew, it was better to expect the unexpected. Ash had surprised everyone by bouncing back from that overdose as quickly as this, not to mention how easily the kid has adapted to the prosthesis. Granted, there still was some work to be done, the boy was still using his crutches on uneven surfaces and he was prone to falling but heck, there hadn't been a single complaint.

Nothing short of a miracle and Lance isn't willing to keep the boy in the hospital for longer than necessary. He knows well enough he's shortening Gary Oak's punishment with this as well but at this points, he's stopped caring about it. His nephew got higher priority thanks to his brother's idiocy and he's not willing to risk losing Ash over some punk with no manners. Despite CPS having assured him several times that his house is perfectly safe for Ash to stay in -he hadn't counted on them to actually come and check, you know?- even with all these dragons running around the house and the garden, he's still got his doubts. There's a large fence keeping everyone but his pokémon from their territory and he thinks he can trust Ash not to disobey him like that but for all he likes the kid, he doesn't trust him to _listen_.

Any teenager can be unpredictable but Ash takes the cake when it comes to pokémon. Especially now that he's gotten attacked by a couple. Lance just isn't willing to risk his pokémon or the boy's safety and made a silent deal with himself to keep the two separated for as long as possible. Clair's called him an idiot when he told her not to leave her Dragonite unattended in the house when Ash is around. She says the only risk of an accident happening is when the pokémon slithers in front of him and accidentally trips him which counts as a _bad_ accident to Lance but alright, then he guesses he's an idiot for caring about such minor details. There's a lot of sharp edges and corners in the house and if Ash does fall, tripped or not, he could get hurt badly.

Nevertheless, the man isn't going to back down on a promise and if the kid somehow manages to crack his head open, there was no telling if that wouldn't have happened back at the teen's home either. Delia would've probably left him at it too, so he was at a greater risk there. In his house, Flygon and a couple of nosy Dratini were always around, keeping vigil, mostly on themselves but maybe, if Ash was around long enough, they would keep an eye on him too. God, what _had_ he been thinking? Dragons were the most unpredictable, destructive and moody pokémon in existence and he just had to put a very sensitive and whimsical teen in the mix with it. He's going to be a lucky man if this doesn't blow up in his face but if he doesn't explode, Ash might and that's going to be worse altogether.

His phone suddenly rings and he feels dread pool in his stomach because everyone he holds dear was told not to call him today unless it was an emergency. They know better than to call him for a folly anyway, so he's not surprised to hear the sheer panic in Clair's voice when he answers the phone.

"A _what_?!... Stay right where you are, I'll be right there!"

* * *

Ash decides he doesn't like surprises any longer. It doesn't take much imagination to get what today's surprise is, there's only so much that can happen when a group of nurses starts to pack his things. Then again, their last surprise consisted of him going swimming with his prosthesis, which hadn't been at all fun because the thing weighed a ton in water and it had instantly transported him back in that underwater cave, his body sinking under the weight of the large crystal that was slowly slipping from his fingers. It was then, after the worried nurses brought him back to his room, all upset and shivering, that Ash remembered that surprises could be good _or_ bad.

He's not sure whether he likes this surprise either, he's gotten a long list of appointments -along with a very sarcastic note from dr. Knight for him to _please_ be at home when he visits in a couple of days- as well as a much smaller list of what medications he should take and now he's just sitting here, surrounded by his stuff. A kid is eyeing his large Gengar plush but Ash pretends not to notice it. He's not sure how long he's sat here, waiting. There's a large, white clock and he can see it tick away but he doesn't know what time he was deposited here. Yes, deposited, he's just put on his prosthesis himself, the nurse had just wheeled him here in a wheelchair and then had helped him in a chair. That's the last time he had spoken up too.

He's happy to have Pikachu with him, awake, this time, though the pokémon is enjoying his bored fidgeting with his ears. So Ash doesn't get much response from his buddy and hell, he's used to having Gliscor hang right next to him and that his little dragon was somewhere at his feet. He feels so lonely in the lobby full of people chattering, some laughing, some deadly serious. It's hard to feel happy in a room like this, no one cares that he's here, he's just another person they pass by in their life and will probably never see again. He knows better than to expect much but as he looks around, he's already started getting to know these people around them a little. Doesn't mean he's not bored out of his mind, though. But, just as he thought it couldn't get much worse, his bum decides it doesn't like being sat on for so long and suddenly the chair feels uncomfortable no matter the position he's in. And then the old gentlemen next to him started speaking up _loudly_ and it doesn't take long for Ash to realise the gentlemen isn't gentle at all. He's a _bigot_.

"When I was young, we didn't do fundraisers for regions at war! Why, if only I were younger, I'd go there myself and put everything right!"

"Grandpa, don't speak so loud," the girl next to him wheedles. "You're disturbing the people here."

"Nonsense, this is a public place, I can speak as loud as I want. Besides, these terrorists are going to be everyone's business soon! All because our weak government has decided they want to give money, while it'll only fund these criminals to make worse weapons against us! Before we know it, they might have nuclear bombs ready for us but hah, don't listen to this old man."

'That's funny,' Ash thought, trying hard not to look at the man.

The last thing he knew, there was nothing in Orre. Just a couple of cities full of scared people with no way out, no perspective in life. Unless they sided with the terrorists, then they could leave… but not without a bomb belt tied around their middle. The few Shadow pokémon that hadn't ripped each other to pieces were trudging around and killed everyone on sight. Recent studies showed that the more a Shadow pokémon killed, the less chance there was for them to ever be successfully purified. As fascinated as Ash was with these kinds of pokémon, he knew they were hardly pokémon at all. Just look at what a heartless person could do to the world? Was it that surprising that a mighty, heartless pokémon could cause such destruction then?

"Grandpa, please-"

"They ought to send all the young, capable men there, see if they can't knock some sense in these people. A pokémon's a pokémon, they ought to shoot 'em if they can't handle them. Or, send all these creepy pokémon league bastards. If they're so special and got such a good connection with their pokémon. See how it works out when they're out of their comfort zone."

That stung, mostly because of what his accident had done to him. In the past, Ash would've valiantly stood up against this man and tell him that no pokémon was inherently evil… but he doubted that. And he would never speak up if he wasn't absolutely sure of it. He's lucky the kid, who had been watching his Gengar plush, heard it too and was old enough to understand what the man said. The poor boy bursts out in crying at the mention of pokémon getting killed and now Ash is ready to rip this man a new one.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," he growls.

"I won't hide my opinion," the man answers. "You ought to mind your own business, young man."

"You can't hide behind your opinion either, no matter how loud you speak up. If you've actually been in a war, you'd know there are no winners, everyone just loses an awful lot of things they can't replace. But maybe we ought to send old fogeys like you to the battlefield, see if the Shadow pokémon will eat you. Maybe you could give them indigestion with that shitty opinion of yours, that'd solve the issue too."

The old man turns a little green at that idea and turns away. Ash is still a bit angry but the kid's stopped crying as his mother had come to the rescue. She's giving the man an evil look, in fact, he's getting a lot of dark looks from pretty much everyone around. He leaves shortly after, claiming that he can't stand the short-sightedness around him but the teen doesn't care. He's full of spite and he takes out his transceiver, to see how much traction he would get if he would involve some of his followers in this fundraiser thing. His message isn't long, he just asks if people would want to bet against him in something, like, if he were to get a lottery ticket or something and see if he would win anything. His luck against the world seemed a good bet to him, anyway.

He watches some more of those resin videos and he just likes them instead of sharing them, he knows his friends just get confused if he keeps sharing them. Ash is pretty sure he's been sitting here for over an hour now and his bum still isn't liking this chair. Then again, there are a lot more videos he can watch but he can see how it's draining his transceiver's battery. But it's _so_ boring to just sit here and do nothing! And he's gotten no response on his message either so the teen is already dejected enough to forget about the whole thing. Just as things couldn't get worse, the device tells him that it's about to install an update so now he's sitting there, watching a couple of orbs go around in circles and it takes _forever_. And then he gets a blue screen of doom.

"You've got to be kidding me," he utters and tries to restart his device.

Nothing.

"Oh my god," the teen sighs and he stuffs his transceiver into his bag.

"Mr. Ketchum?"

"Yeah?" he asks and he can't help how bummed out he sounds because the pokémon company just _nerfed_ his transceiver with their damned update!

"We received a call, Mr. Lance won't be able to make it today but there will be someone else picking you up shortly."

"Oh, okay. Did you know who?"

"No, I wasn't told, just that there would be someone to pick you up."

"Okay. Thanks."

"No problem," the nurse says and walks off, still smiling kindly.

Ash doubts that Lance's inability to show up has something to do with him now he's worried something's happened to the man. He _really_ doesn't want to go into the system either, he's already uncomfortable with the idea he's going to have to depend on family who he assumes _like_ him. He doesn't want to even start imagining how he's going to feel when he suddenly needs to stay with people who don't know him at all. All in all, it's not a great start of his freedom, that much is sure and he's a little hurt too. Somehow, he's always the butt of the joke, no matter what happens… and he can only sit and wait until someone shows up. Without anything to distract him from his own feelings.

'Wonderful,' he thinks, getting all grumpy. 'Just wonderful.'


	11. Shut Up About It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't ask me what's come into me, I managed to write a chapter in two days and I've got no idea how I happened.   
> I do want to dedicate it to Fighterpilotdragon02, I got you, buddy!
> 
> Hope you all enjoy

It's been another hour and no one's come by yet. Ash is very bored and annoyed now, not even Pikachu can bring a smile to his face with his antics and _god_ , spare him from another asshole making some rancid statements. Unfortunately, there's a nice echo inside this building, so he's not spared from the ramblings of an entitled woman who claims the nurse is being rude to her and that she 'wants to speak to the manager'. Ash isn't even sure the nurses have a manager but he does know the lady behind the counter there has a no-nonsense supervisor. He hopes she calls him out, that'll be way more fun than listening to the screaming woman.

He'll never know what happens next because somehow, he sees professor Elm run through the door. He's in a terrible hurry, it seems, he even skids a bit when he comes at a halt in front of the check-in point, where a befuddled woman recoils a bit when he suddenly appears in her vision. Ash has an inkling the man _might_ be there because of him but for a regional professor to suddenly come over at a whim? Arceus, what happened to Lance?

He's right, the professor turns to look at him and Ash can only grin sheepishly and wave when their eyes meet. Thankfully, the man doesn't sigh or look annoyed but he does come speeding walking over. And yes, it looks absolutely ridiculous.

"Ash, I'm so sorry I'm so late, it's such a pain to cross the border, I had to get papers and everything, holy moly, I got here as fast as I could," the man says quickly, despite being out of breath.

"It's okay, professor, please, breathe."

"Hah," he pants, leaning heavily on his knees as he bends over a little. "I didn't think you would understand, I-"

"I won't if you keep putting your foot in it," Ash says because his patience _is_ running thin.

Professor Elm seems to notice it as he straightens and grins at him. He, however, doesn't make a move to give any sort of explanation as to why Lance couldn't make it, instead choosing to struggle carrying all those bags. Ash appreciates it, he can hardly keep himself upright. Walking is all fine and dandy as long as it's on concrete but he's having troubles walking on the parking lot. It's titled towards the water conducts too so that doesn't help at all and professor Elm just _had_ to park in the grass.

"Don't worry about the mud," the man says when he sees Ash halting at the edge of the grass. "I'm going to have to clean my car anyway."

"I will slip, professor."

"Oh?"

The teen raises his pant leg high enough so that professor Elm could see the see-through calf of his prosthesis. The man stares at it for as long as Ash keeps his pant leg up. As soon as he drops it, it snaps professor Elm from his reverie.

"Ah, okay, I understand," he wheedles sheepishly, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'll drive off the grass first."

"Thank you."

Ash watches the bright green car reverse off the grass and he slowly gets in it.

"I'm really sorry, Ash, I wasn't told what happened to you, I just needed to pick you up," the professor says, starting the car.

"It's fine."

The teen's stomach churns at seeing the state of the car from the inside. He quickly looks outside but now he's stuck with the memory of his mom crying about how she couldn't afford a car… and seeing the professor's electrical and not at all cheap car covered in very dubious substances… well, he would have hoped the man would have a bit more respect for it. At least the seat is comfortable.

" So… How euhm… are you doing, Ash?" the man asks.

Honestly? His bum is still tingling uncomfortably, he's got a bit of a headache forming and his body feels like lead. This is the longest he's spent out of bed recently too, it's been a whopping four hours since the nurses had put him in the lobby, along with his stuff.

"I'm fine," he says.

"Really? I would imagine having a prosthetic limb would be a bit of a hassle."

"It beats having only one leg," Ash quips because _of course_ nothing but the obvious can be wrong with him, huh? He should've guessed the man would hone into his prosthesis and only focus on that.

"Well, yes, of course, it does. What does it feel like?"

'Hell' comes in his mind but the teen feels like that wouldn't do the feeling justice. Burning hell would be better, especially now, since the tingling feeling in his bum is starting to spread down his legs too.

"Not good," he offers because he can't explain it just yet without sounding ungrateful. But it still beats walking with crutches.

"I bet it takes a long while until you can fully get used to it, huh?"

"Longer than the week I've had it, yeah, I guess so."

Ash can see professor Elm's face go through several stages of grief before settling on an expression that kind of looks like pity.

"I really wasn't told anything," the man utters quietly.

"Nothing?"

"No, professor Ivy just told me to come get you."

"And you thought I was perfectly okay despite being sent to a hospital to pick me up?"

"… I'll confess I didn't think about it until I was inside the hospital and saw you, Ash. But then again, it seemed insensitive to ask."

The teen quietly decides that the world has become too used to pokémon. It's astonishing how quickly the man-made his assumptions about him, deciding it was somehow better to ask him about a prosthesis than about his health? It's like the professor forgot how communication worked, too used to needing to guess because pokémon didn't talk at all. Well, some did, but professor Elm's speciality was baby pokémon and not even Psychic-types could do that from such a young age.

"So you didn't speak to Lance at all?" the boy asks instead of focussing on the man's lack of tact.

"No, though I know professor Ivy is at Lance's house. I believe there was a pokémon she was interested in but I'm not sure. Either way, she sounded terribly urgent, so I thought it was wise not to test her patience and just get going."

Ash gets the feeling though he believes that's where the similarities between him and the professor end. Looking at him now, the man looks terribly nervous, though he's a good driver. The thing is, not everyone is and by the looks of it, professor Elm's only short-coming on the road is that he's a foul-mouthed road rager.

"Did you get your driver's license from a cereal box, you twat!?" the man cries out at the person whose car is standing right next to them, having come to a stop in the middle of the road, while also having been going the wrong direction of the road.

"Calm down, professor, it's just an old lady."

The professor doesn't listen and Ash can see him growing redder by the second when the car is successfully blocking them from going forwards. It seemed like the old lady was trying to turn around to start going the right but yeah, she didn't have to do it right in front of them _or_ the middle of the road.

"Oh my god, _woman_! I've got places to be!"

The lady doesn't seem to care, she takes her sweet time and professor Elm gets some good use out of his horn. When she finally pulls out in front of them and goes, the man floors the gas pedal, passes her and speeds off.

'That was _definitely_ an illegal pass,' Ash thought because there's a full line in the middle of the road and they had been on a hill.

Again, not the best spot to suddenly start turning around either so it's not as if the old lady wasn't at fault but professor Elm could have reacted a bit better to it. Still, he's not going to speak up again, the man is silently fuming as he drives on. He's completely hunched over and his knuckles are white as he's got a firm hold on the steering wheel. It would've been comical if only Ash had a bit better relationship with him. He's not sure what's changed because he remembers a time where he was alright walking into any stranger's house and trust them to be nice. Maybe it's got something to do with the fact he feels exactly how mad professor Elm really is.

"Are you alright, professor?" he asks because he's worried the man might burst a vessel.

"I _hate_ people trying to placate me when someone's in the wrong."

'Great,' the teen thinks. 'Now he's working it out on me.'

Two can play that game, he's still annoyed he had to sit there the entire time too but it seems he's the most mature out of the two of them. Still, he lets the man stew in his annoyance, he's got other things to think about. Ash allows his mind to wander about, he's pretty sure the professor won't speak up again and even if he does, he doesn't want to hear it. The teen looks at the passing scenery instead and he smiles a bit at the idea that Lance might have a pretty nice garden, with some awesome pokémon running around. Maybe he can even pick up some tricks, in case Gible ever gets over the scare he's gotten. Yeah, it might get interesting, if, of course, Lance still wants anything to do with him.

Ash snaps out of his daydreaming when the car halts briskly. It seems like professor Elm's car met with a sturdy post but seeing it's one from a parking spot, the teen figures they are at their destination. He doesn't wait for the man to finish his colourful string of words either, he doesn't even care if the professor parked in the grass again either. If he slips, he'll get back up. But he doesn't slip, these shoes dr. Knight got him are very good on uneven surfaces, it seems.

"Where are you going?!" the professor yells.

"Garden," he answers simply.

There was no way he was going to stick around to receive a bit more verbal abuse from the upset professor. Besides, what would he do? Stand there and watch the man struggle? It would only make the man more upset and it would make him feel even more useless than he already was.

"I don't have a key to get inside!"

"You think I have?"

"… Ash, you and I, we need to talk."

"About what? The fact my mother and father are such bumbling idiots they lost custody of me? It's not something I like to talk about, I miss them a lot. I just got to meet my dad and he's already left within a month of meeting me."

"I don't think… that it's your fault at all, I… _can_ biologic parents even lose custody of their children?"

"Apparently so."

"What did they do, Ash?" the man asks, suddenly super concerned as he followed the teen into the grass.

It was at that moment the boy lost his footing and slipped, just like he had predicted. Those shoes were worthless, after all.

"Ash!" the professor cries out and moves to help him up.

But Ash holds out his hands in surrender and sighs deeply. He's fine where he is and he tells the man that much. He doesn't want to move, he's had it for now. The lawn is the best place he could be right now, it seems like that car ride and its soft electronic humming had taken their toll on him.

"I'll… go and see whether I can't find Lance somewhere, yeah? Or professor Ivy?"

"Sure."

* * *

"I swear to god, you and your fascination for strange pokémon are going to be the death of me," Lance hisses as he peeks around the corner of the door to spot if their assailant is still around.

It's pitch black inside the house so he can't see very well. He just wishes he had a pokémon with him but as per usual, this was one of the rare days where he had them out in their spot in the garden, just because he had been expecting to have a sensitive teen with him. Even with Ash's apparent love for every pokémon, most of his dragons are all teeth and anger so it could have well been a mess. Still, he could always count on his cousin to make the mess for him.

"How the hell was I supposed to know it could fry the electric network?" Clair hisses back. "A Dratini isn't supposed to do that!"

"It was yellow, though," professor Ivy pipes up and she's not making an effort of trying to leave the room, she's fine where she is.

"I thought it could be shiny."

"Shiny Dratina are _pink_. And they don't fry people's electricity!" Lance growls because this is going to be a heavy cost for his insurance.

God, this is going to be a pain trying to explain that a Dratini did this. Because honestly, he had a couple slithering around here and they certainly didn't do that. They might chew a cable if it was laying around but that would fry the Dratini, not the other way around. Honestly, leave it to his cousin to find such a pokémon.

"Alright, alright, I get it, it's not a normal one. I still think it's cool, though."

"But out of your control," the professor says. "And that makes the pokémon very dangerous too."

"… Do you think I should give it up?"

"Perhaps try and see if it can act friendly. There are always pokémon who are better left in the wild than trained."

Lance rolled his eyes at that and sneaked outside. He felt like a burglar in his own damn house, goddammit! He nearly loses it when he walks into a pillar.

"That's it!" he explodes. "Dratini or not, I need light or I'm killing something today!"

He stomps through his house and a helpful window lights his way so he can at least find his front door. However, as he pulls it open, he finds the more than startled professor Elm stand there. Lance has kind of had it with professors and pokémon today, though and he's not pleased to see him here. Not today.

"What are you doing here?"

"… What? I… I was told to go pick up Ash," the man answers, befuddled and clearly intimidated. "Professor Ivy called me."

Lance runs his hands over his face, he had almost forgotten about the kid! Now he's going to have to thank professor Ivy for being the only level-headed person in the room. However…

"What time is it?"

"Around four?" the professor offers.

"And you just got here? Where's Ash?"

"Euhm, yes, we arrived here a couple of minutes ago. And Ash is in the lawn. Resting, I believe."

"Right… okay. Well, I would invite you in but it's awfully dark inside."

"I can do a bit of electrics, if that would help?"

Probably yes, but there's a murderous little pokémon hiding somewhere in the building and he's pretty sure his insurance won't cover fried regional professors. Now that he's outside, though, he can whistle and call Flygon. Just as he wants to put his fingers in his mouth, a small face comes out of the doorframe, scaring the living daylights out of the man.

"Dreepy! Don't scare me like that! Honestly, everyone's out to get me today."

"A Dreepy!" professor Elm says and approaches the dragon in all the right ways. "What a fascinating little guy you are, coming through the door like that?"

Praise is always a safe way to go when talking to a dragon so Lance is at least put at ease that he can trust the man to remain a bit professional. And Dreepy might come in handy, if there's ever a difference in a separate Ghost- or Dragon-type and a dual Ghost/Dragon-type it's that the pokémon has the character of a dragon but the abilities of a ghost. So it listens to him _and_ phases through walls, unseen. Perfect when you're looking for a rogue Dratini, if you ask him.

So he takes Dreepy and professor Elm down to the electric network's centre and yeah, the man _does_ know something about electricity because he fiddles a bit, flicks a switch and suddenly, there is light again. Lance is over the moon though knows he'll have to get a specialist electrician to do a run down over the professor's handy work. Safety above everything, he doesn't need a shortcut to set the house on fire while they're all asleep in bed. The thing is, as Dreepy searches room upon room, even the room professor Ivy and Clair were in, the little Ghost/Dragon-type can't actually find the pokémon they're looking for and it's more worrying to know that's something isn't there than to stand in front of it, somehow.

"I hope it hasn't run," Clair says.

"It would if it desires freedom," the professor says but she doesn't seem to care an awful lot. "I'm glad to see you, professor Elm, I hope you were successful in retrieving Ash?"

"Oh, yes, I was, he seemed happy to see me. At first and then ah… I euhm…"

"Let me guess, you yelled at him."

"… I'm sorry."

"One day, I will understand why you can forgive children making the most awful mistakes but can't do the same for adults." Professor Ivy sighs as she shakes her head.

"What is this about?" Lance asks.

"Road rage. He screams at people when he's stuck in traffic or just on the road," she answers while the other professor looks guilty as charged.

"You better not have screamed at Ash, professor Elm, he's not good at dealing with negative attention from people."

"I didn't scream at him, I just said he needed to leave me be… I'm sorry, I noticed he suddenly got a lot less happy. He's in the garden, though, he's fine."

"Or so you say," Lance huffs, mood dropping again. "Fine, then I have two missions. First, I need to find this Dratini and secondly, I got to see Ash."

"Didn't you say Ash was really good with pokémon, though?" Clair piped up. "I mean, you told me there were loads of pokémon moving into the garden and onto his windowsill."

"… I'll first go see Ash, then," the man decides and nearly has a heart attack when he sees the bright yellow Dratini lay in Ash's arms.

He can see it from where he's standing, his nephew didn't make it too far into the garden but it looks like the teen is aware that there's another pokémon on him. Well, multiple, his 'field of attraction' already drew in a couple of Furret and they're around and on top of Ash.

"Professor Ivy? Do you still need evidence that the Dratini can behave normally?" he asks and he sees the woman come stand next to him from the corner of his eye.

"That is kind of extra-ordinary. Do you think those are wild pokémon sleeping next to him?"

"Probably. That or they followed him all the way from the hospitalised."

"I see."

* * *

Ash wakes with a snort and winces when he feels a cramp going through his leg. He knows he's probably been sleeping in an awkward position but his clothes feel a bit damp too. He feels the grass under his hand when he straightens but he's very bewildered to see a yellow Dratini snuggled against his leg. Not the one with the cramp, no, it's leaning against his prosthesis. Must be why he didn't feel it, Ash doesn't think a Dratini weighs much and this one in particular seems a bit on the smaller side. It must not have been a threat at all, Pikachu would've reacted to it if it had approached him with ill intent. And there's Furret around him again and yeah, there's a pink one there. He remembers having seen one in the hospital garden too, which is kind of funny.

"Ash?" he suddenly hears, from a distance.

He turns to see his uncle stand in the doorway of the… side of the house? Now that Ash has got a visual on it, he can see his uncle owns a _big_ house. Way bigger than professor Oak's laboratory even.

"Yes?"

"Come inside, it's going to get cold outside soon."

That would explain the dampness but as he straightens, he automatically grabs something yellow and gosh, the world spins for a second, so Ash closes his eyes. When he opens them, he sees Lance suddenly stand a lot closer and he's confused because he's pretty sure he had stood still.

"Are you okay?" the man asks and he's already got a good hold on him, Ash can feel his hands support his back.

"Dizzy," he answers. "Sorry, must've stood up to fast."

"You're cold," Lance remarks and before Ash knows it, he's in the man's arms.

Gosh, he likes being carried like this, it's like a sideways hug, he couldn't get any closer to his uncle like this. It's a nice feeling, very warm too…

"Why is it so cold?" the teen asks softly, as he's being carried inside.

"It's Winter, Ash."

"Huh? But it was Spring when I came back to Kanto?"

"It was, yes."

Ash frowns deeply and he's not too sure he's alright any longer. Is he still in his uncle's arms? He doesn't feel like it, in fact, he gets a bit scared because he can't feel the ground under his foot. He grabs at the yellow on his lap out of habit but as his hands touch smooth skin, he frowns again.

"This isn't Pikachu," he says.

"It isn't," Lance agrees. "It's a Dratini."

"Why is it yellow?"

"Because it's a weird little thing."

He was a weird little thing too, Ash feels for the pokémon. But it makes him wonder where Pikachu is. When Lance jolts, he doesn't just get the confirmation he's still in the man's arms but he gets a face full of fur too. This _definitely_ is his Pikachu, he's woken up to this kind of fur-to-the face situation often enough to recognise his buddy by fur.

"Hiya, buddy."

"Pika prrrr~"

The purring makes him feel even fuzzier but Ash doesn't feel tired. He's confused, yeah but not tired. So when Lance offers to take him to his bedroom, Ash declines. He would rather sit somewhere nice so he can try and clear his head. Next time he sees Riley, he'll ask him if certain technology can have this kind of draining effect on him because Ash can't think of anything else. Well, nothing except the usual exhaustion he gets when leaving from such a long stay in the hospital. God, had it been so long too? He never even witness Autumn…

"Good afternoon, Ash."

He looks up and sees professor Ivy has joined him in the couch. She looks strangely at home but he remembers her as a kind of chill person.

"… Oh, hello, professor Ivy. I didn't expect to see you here."

"I was willing to wait until you got inside."

"You wanted to see me?" he asks, confused.

"I'm worried, yes but mostly because of there is a Delta pokémon on your lap. Let me assure you that I'm not aware of anything within your medical file."

"Delta pokémon?" Ash asks, even more confused now. "What's so different about it other than the colour?"

"I believe it's typing is Electric and its behaviour was erratic, to say the least. At least until you seemed to have calmed it down."

"I didn't do anything, though."

Professor Ivy tells him that it didn't matter, that it's likely his presence that is calming the pokémon down. That Ash understands, even Dialga calms down when it's near him. Nevertheless, this tiny Dratini could hardly be such a threat than Pikachu, right? Especially if it's got a trainer-

"I can hear you thinking, Ash," the professor says and she's looking awfully amused. "Let me just say that Clair treats a Dratini like the Dragon-type it is and she did exactly that with this one and it overstimulated Mahogany's entire electric network."

"... How do you treat a pokémon like a Dragon-type?" the teen asks, looking at her strangely. "I bet that Pikachu would do a whole lot worse if you hurt him, if that's what you mean by treating it that way."

"She was rude, that's all," she assures him. "Clair would never hurt a pokémon."

"Weird that it didn't attack her then. As far as I know, pokémon tend to attack what's scaring or hurting them. That it went for the house is just a sign it didn't want to hurt her, which is more than a bit impressive for a pokémon who just got yelled at, if you ask me."

Professor Ivy looks at him and she smiles a bit.

"Perhaps so, yes. I'm more impressed that you're not the slightest bit taken aback you have a rare and possibly dangerous pokémon on your lap, Ash. I don't know if it's sensible to do so."

Ash wants to groan, the poor thing is just there, for goodness' sake.

"It shouldn't even have been like this, if Clair had been a bit careful, none of you would have considered it dangerous, to begin with," he snaps. "I suggest letting go of the fact it answered to being treated badly and see how it reacts when treated with a bit of respect. Like right now, for example."

"Sore subject, hm?"

"No pokémon on this earth's plane is evil."

"Are you this annoyed because I doubt it… or are you annoyed because _you_ doubt it, Ash? Because if the latter is the case, I suggest not to react badly to professor Elm's road rage in the future either, you are working this out on me too."

His eyes twitched.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't believe in it," he snaps. "And if your only defence is to call me a hypocrite, go ahead but I've seen enough to the world to know that no pokémon does anything bad by nature, not until a person has got their hands on them."

"Is that so?"

"If I have to explain this to you, then it reveals something about what kind of a pokémon professor you are," he says and he means it.

The woman seems hurt but he's not budging. He's absolutely sure that pokémon won't do bad things unless a person's involvement with them. Even a kid can ask a pokémon to steal some candy and sure, it's just a kid but stealing is bad. In all his years of travelling, he's never met a group of pokémon who started criminal groups on their own volition. And no, even his Squirtle, who had been in a gang, was only following the example of the people he and his friends had seen. That was the whole point with city pokémon, wasn't it? The only ones of the pokémon world Ash knew tended to go a bit criminal, it were Psychic-types, who were especially influenced by their surroundings. He fears the day where he'll meet a Dark/Psychic-type because that pokémon has all the right characteristics to be a criminal. But even so, he won't judge until he's seen it.

Professor Ivy leaves and he doesn't care much. Not until he can hear her talking to someone and yes, it's about him and his absolutely shitty social skills, apparently. She had said it herself, though, it was a sore subject and yet she still put her entire foot in it by comparing him to professor Elm. And then he wasn't supposed to be angry, huh? Go figure.

"Ti?"

The pokémon on his lap gives him a curious look and Ash can only sigh because there's not much he can say to defend Clair. If the Dratini had attacked out of the blue, if it hadn't been Clair fault, yeah, then you could try and teach a pokémon to have a few manners. But this one went as far as to not even punish her, it was a kindness Ash admired. So he gently takes a hold of the Dratini and kisses it on its big nose.

"She didn't mean it, buddy. You're perfect as you are."

A strange noise comes from the Dratini but Ash knows it's probably just its peculiar way to show affection. Just like Pikachu's noise that sounded a bit like the pokémon had a little engine inside him, producing the soft rumble. Though the teen had already heard that it was actually coming from his buddy's mouth and it always looked like Pikachu was chewing whenever the sound came out. It doesn't matter much but he knows he enjoys it very much. And the Dratini's noise just becomes a bit more prominent when he hugs it close. Exactly the signs of a loveable pokémon right there.

* * *

Lance isn't sure what to think when professor Ivy approaches him with the statement that his nephew will fit in great with his dragons. He's never truly seen Ash in such a bad mood before but after a bit of prying, he gets why the boy would have given her such answers. At least the professor has the decency to look ashamed when he reveals to her the reason why the teen had been in hospital for. He doesn't tell her what injuries he had, or why he's here at all, just that it was a pokémon that had attacked him.

"Then, why is he so absolutely sure pokémon aren't evil?"

"He thinks _he_ is the reason why the pokémon attacked him, professor. He won't even consider that the pokémon has a volatile nature."

The woman gets a very wry look on her face and he understands why.

"I'll have to apologise to him," she says.

"Don't."

"I won't be a second professor Oak, I refuse-"

"Please, don't. You don't understand, if you go back right now, it'll look like I made you apologise. Don't be fooled, he will hear us talking right now, he won't know _what_ we're saying but he's so used to be the problem, he'll assume he is by default," Lance explains and he has to grab her arm to stop her from leaving. "Best thing you can do is act as if it never happened. He'll understand that it never was a problem to begin with, he'll forget it if you don't make any trouble around it."

"… That can't be a healthy way of living."

"That's why he's still receiving help. Trust me, professor, I'm just here to help him and the last thing I want is for you to get mad at him for something he or you can't help."

She still looks torn and his pleading look isn't doing much. It's not until Clair comes back in, followed closely by professor Elm that she gets distracted. Not for long, though, professor Ivy goes straight towards his cousin.

"Clair, I'm so sorry. I might have said things to Ash that might have given him the idea that you hurt the Dratini," she explains and the woman looks like she's going to cry soon.

"Then I'm just going to need to prove to Ash that I didn't, right?"

Lance is glad that he's got such a steadfast cousin, she's not easily scared away from something and she knows Ash already. He just hopes she isn't counting on some lenience because he knows from the way professor Ivy is acting, that he's not forgiving on those he's met before. He can't say he wasn't warned, he's heard the tone the boy spoke to the therapist and he can only hope he's never going to give Ash a reason to use that kind of tone towards him or there's going to be an accident. He can stand a bit of rudeness but Ash had gone straight for whatever insecurity dr. Knight had and that's his weakness too.

"Don't stand there on ceremony, Lance, I'm going to need your help if I do underestimate Ash's mood."

He's quick to follow her because she's right. Lance does hope he'll never lose the way the teen looks up to him, he doesn't want to be someone who'll upset Ash on sight. Still, the teen seems pleasant enough and he knows he's right. Whatever issue he's had with professor Ivy, he's most likely already forgotten about it. Or at least, he's kept himself busy with coddling the small Dratini, which might have been exactly what the little pokémon needed. Clair takes it in stride to, instead of greeting Ash at all, she goes straight for her pokémon, apologising to it and explaining just exactly why she had reacted that way.

It's impressive and Ash is quick to hand her the Dratini, mostly because he's got a peeved looking Pikachu sit right next to him, looking jealous as hell of the other pokémon. His expression changes the moment he's in the boy's hands, though.

'He's going to be perfect for Dreepy,' Lance thinks as the pokémon is so young and playful while he absolutely doesn't have the time to play with any of his pokémon.

The man does wonder how quickly he's changed his mind about his nephew, though, first he thought it was going to be dangerous and now he's already making plans on taking the kid on as a babysitter for his young dragons. It's probably got everything to do with how Clair suddenly has no issues dealing with what she had assumed to be a killer Dratini before.

"He told me Dratini was kind for not having attacked Clair," professor Ivy whispers to him.

Lance rolls his eyes and he really doesn't want to deal with this any longer.

"It's resolved, professor. Let it go."

She clearly looks uncomfortable but when Clair loudly thanks Ash for his help, there isn't much she can do. All Lance is seeing is a bit of mutual respect because _hell_ , wouldn't he have liked someone to sort out his pokémon when they weren't feeling good. He's not going to use Ash that way, his pokémon are pretty much stable but if the kid wants, he's free to work his magic now. Whatever doubts he had were gone now and honestly, he did have to thank Clair for that. He's not going to, though, he's too prideful to admit he even had doubts. It doesn't matter, his cousin wouldn't know what to do with the information anyway and he's just glad he's landed himself in a situation he can handle. Minus the overly sensitive professors, though.

* * *

Oh, Lance is pleased with how everything has been going so far. Ash is doing very well, he's adapted perfectly to living here, he doesn't sleep in but he does sleep, he's more than happy to talk to Clair about pokémon and whatnot, he's even changed her mind on throwing out young challengers. The boy told her how difficult it was to navigate through cities when you're young and totally not used to being outdoors, or even different regions and somehow Clair accepted it from him. Even though he's been telling her the same damn thing, that these kids don't know any better, she never listened up until now. And she kept word so now she's even getting a bonus from the pokémon league, as Mr. Goodshow is relieved to not need to deal with complaints from the challenger's parents.

The teen is also dead-set on getting used to his prosthesis, Lance is a witness to his nephew's frequent walks through the garden, armed with a nice, thick coat and a scarf, as well as some nice, waterproof mittens because he still tends to fall and it's never nice to walk around with wet hands. According to Ash, it's already bad enough to walk around with wet pants after falling so he doesn't need wet hands to leave marks all over the door handle and walls. Lance appreciates his small attention to details but to him, this sounds like a teenager who had been ordered around a bit too much because he's pretty sure he didn't care much about the state of his parent's door handles at Ash's age. Nevertheless, he's not going to complain when the kid is doing everything he can to get back on his feet, literally and figuratively.

Dr. Knight is very positive about the influence he has over the boy, though it's also pretty clear that, if Lance has a bad mood, Ash won't say a word and will even go as far as to shush Clair when he has the opportunity to warn her. As much as he appreciates that no one is egging him on deliberately, he also feels bad about stopping a kid from being a kid whenever he's stepped out of bed with the wrong foot. The therapist says it's not that deep and that he should know it's just the way the boy works. There are worse things in the world and alright, it's perhaps not a healthy response to anyone having a bad mood but it is a nice one and if you approach the kid in a normal way, he's a very nice person altogether. Approach him with a pokémon and he's absolutely wonderful.

"You can't blame him for liking pokémon when they were the only ones taking him seriously in a certain period of his life," dr. Knight tells him when he's just finished talking to Ash. "Let's not make him feel bad about being good with them either, he has a way with them and it's just going to be our job to make him like us. It's not that he hates people at all but admit it, sir, there's no reason why he should trust anyone when most people walk around with faces like they have a plate of poo right under their noses."

Lance remembers having laughed at that very well because it's true. Personally, he doesn't think the facial expressions have anything to do with Ash's refusal to go up to people, he will do it if prompted but he's just going to need a good reason to. And he knows the difference between a scowl of annoyance of a fleeting bout of anger and a real bad mood. The physiotherapist, Brandon, knows everything about that, his 'mean' face he uses when patients don't listen to him doesn't have any effect on Ash. Instead, the first session had consisted of the man trying to get to grips with the fact that his colleague has somehow managed to create a miracle and the teen asking if he's okay and generally being worried when Brandon winces when he bends down.

Ash never got an answer to his questions but again, forgets about it a little while later, instead being more curious about his plate suddenly moving around on the table. Seems like Dreepy has taken a liking to him, alright and is trying to see how far he can go. The little pokémon will have to mind his manners though, the boy might not be using those special abilities of his often but he will when his plate of food is somehow sliding out of his reach. Dreepy should have known better than to mess with Ash's food, even if Lance discovers he's terribly lactose intolerant, the boy is an eating machine and loves food. The man doesn't know where he puts all of it, as Clair is more than happy to cater for the kid but he's glad _that_ isn't a problem.

Riley comes by as well, sounding a bit upset because he had been expecting a message from the teen. He doesn't get much time to be upset, though, Lucario is quick to push his nose onto Ash's cheek and sniff his way up in a way of greeting, or so Lance figures. It renders his nephew into a giggling mess, Lucario's short but many whiskers tickle with every movement.

"What's gotten you all huffy, then?" Lance asks as he guides them all into the living room.

"I thought I could at least trust a teenager to deal with technology but alas," the man sighs ruefully.

"His transceiver broke, though."

"What excellent timing."

For Lance, yes because this was an excellent opportunity for him to get a transceiver for his nephew as a Christmas gift. Ash hadn't complained much, it had been Clair who had commented on why he wasn't talking to any friends that prompted Ash to tell him about it. The teen had told them about the fatal update and how he didn't want to be bothered right now, he was thinking and not in the mood. The message had been clear enough and perhaps his nephew didn't want a new transceiver at all but Lance would feel better if he had some ways to contact the boy. Thing was, he had work to attend to on the twenty-fourth but he had plans to take Ash with him as Clair needed to come in for work too and he was not going to leave the kid unattended.

"Lucario, behave," Riley suddenly says when the pokémon almost makes Ash lose his balance. "Don't push him."

The pokémon straightens but he gives the man the stink eye from the corner of his eye.

"Don't give me that look, put that nose of yours at his left leg and then tell me why I don't want you pushing him over."

Lucario doesn't exactly bend down but his nose twitches and the pokémon whines a little. Ash doesn't like it, though and he goes to hug him, consoling him that it's fine, that he'll stand up when he falls and that he can sniff him as much as he likes. But he also adds that he should listen to Riley though because he _really_ doesn't like falling over, especially not when they're in the living room. He has fallen here already and he would like it if the bruises from that time heal before he makes a couple of new ones.

"Well, there you go."

The pokémon huffs and Lance is never sure whether Riley can actually talk to the creature or if he's just good at guessing but it's clear Lucario said something Riley didn't like.

"Right, well, whatever man," he says. "You don't mind, right, Ash?"

"Mind what?" the teen chirps.

"Lucario?"

"Nope, I told you, I like him."

"He likes you to. Go on then, you big goof, go sit next to him and try to make a connection with his Aura. I want to see if this will work."

"What will?" Lance asks. "Also, you don't mind me being here?"

"No, it's not like you'll see anything," Riley answers as he settles down in the couch opposite to where Ash is sitting on the ground, the Lucario dutifully next to him -though there's a playful shine in the pokémon's eyes- as well as Pikachu but then again, the pokémon is _always_ somewhere around his trainer. "I mean, I'm trained in this stuff and I don't see anything."

"Alright, don't mind if I do, then."

Lance goes to settle down in a couch too, there's plenty of space where he won't disturb these three in their business.

"Okay, so I want you to focus real hard, Ash. I don't know if you've ever meditated before?"

"Only outside and even then it's hard to not think about something. I can't do it inside."

"How do you sleep, then?"

"I daydream until I get tired, I suppose," the teen shrugs. "I can actually sleep at this house without any issues too, I like that."

"Please do the same thing you do to go to sleep, then," Riley says. "Lucario, you know what to do, right?"

The pokémon nods seriously and closes his eyes. For a good moment, it's silent and Lance is sitting there, watching the three sit there with their eyes close. After a good five minutes of absolute silence -except for the rumbling of his stomach, which somehow always has this wonderful timing to sound out whenever it's dead quiet- Riley opens his eyes, leaving the man to admire the nice, deep turquoise coloured Aura in them. His old friend isn't looking at him, though, he's looking at something Lance will never be able to see. And he knows Riley sees something by the way the man's mouth forms a little 'o'.

"Dear _god_ …" he utters and this somehow makes Ash laugh, breaking the connection they had.

But Riley's seen enough and he's still gaping at the teen, who smiles widely at him.

"Did you see it?" he asks and the man nods dumbly.

"I have _never_ ever seen anything like that. Your Aura… It's not even a pool, it's a _world_!"

"You know, I had this dream a couple of days ago," Ash says with the most delighted smile on his face. "Your remark just made me think about it because everything inside this dream was this electric pink but wasn't a solid colour either, it was darker at some spots and it had this same golden shine on it like on my Aura. Do you think I was walking inside my own world of Aura?"

"I-I… I don't have a clue, I know of certain Aura users who can see their pools of Aura but… Were you floating? Or could you touch it?"

"I was walking in it. There was wind and air too, the leaves of the trees rustled and it was really peaceful. Don't think there was a large source of light, it just all seemed… iridescent. Like everything was giving off light already. If that makes sense."

"Kind of," Riley says as he looks a bit lost. "I'm sorry, I thought that everything would become more clear if I saw you Aura but it's only causing more confusion. I've never seen anything like it in my life and I've had so many students, met so many Aura users in my life… Oh, Lance, you really should involve this Lore keeper of yours. I know it'll pain you, I'll even call the man myself if I have to but I really need a second opinion on this."

"Do you?" Lance asks sourly as he doesn't want to contact Scott this soon after their initial kerfuffle.

"Please, I need to have his opinion too. Tell him I have a firm suspicion I've found an Original."

"What's that?" Ash asks.

"It's… the forgotten trades, kiddo," the man answers, still sounding impressed by what he's just seen. "There's very little known about them, I doubt Brandon knows everything there is to know but we can work something out, the new trades came from the old ones, so we can see what works out best for you. But I'll need to confirmation because it would make you _incredibly_ special, Ash."

" _Useable_ special?"

"Not exactly, no, it'll be of use to you, of course, the fact you can solidify your Aura should have told me enough but for an Aura user to need the help of a pokémon to see your Aura… Ash, I'm one of five Aura users who has such a bond with my Lucario that allows me to see what he sees in deep meditation. All the others are scattered over the regions, in secrecy because there is still some prejudice in certain areas of the world but at least they're not hunted any longer. Just… know that no one other than the purest of Aura users can bond with their partner pokémon. They can't have any sin whatsoever on their conscience, they cannot do any evil wilfully or the bond disappears."

"So I can be pretty sure someone with bad intentions won't even be able to know what I am, huh? But, is Brandon one of these people? Who can see my Aura?"

"No, he will never experience that sheer delight. Love was his sin because he left it behind, for no other reason than Aura itself. It's why he's so jaded, Ash, don't test him. But, he knows enough. Just the display of your Aura will be enough for him to judge."

"He can't tell me I'm a muppet just because he's had a bad day?"

Lance stifles a laugh at the face Riley makes because he knows Brandon _would_ do that if he does have a bad day. Chances are he won't even look at Ash if he doesn't want to.

"Lance, could you tell me if you're going to see him? I will come. I can show him what I've seen and Brandon knows I'm without sin."

"I will, don't worry."

"And what if he tells you to bugger off too? Or is there something magical stopping him from messing with you?" Ash asks.

Riley's face twists and he sighs and shakes his head.

"I'll have kittens when he does react like that, I swear."

The reaction makes Ash chuckle but Lance isn't looking forward to the call he's going to have to make. God, he hates it when he needs to back down after having made a scene, no matter if it's justified or not. Scott is going to sound so _absolutely_ smug, the mere idea of that gives him a foul taste in his mouth. But, it's for Ash and there's little he won't do for his brother's son. He knows that, should anything irreversible happen to Ash, it'll absolutely destroy Red. He might not be in the picture right now but Lance knows the man cares a great deal. And he still loves his brother too, despite everything… so he'll do it. He'll call Scott. For Red _and_ Ash.

* * *

There's silence in the car when they drive towards the pokémon league building in Kanto, the largest one of the Indigo league, or so Lance told him before they left. Nevertheless, Ash is pleased as punch to have his two favourite people in this wonderful car and he's so happy Lance takes care of this vehicle. He still shivers as he thinks of how much mud was in professor Elm's car, it was absolutely disgusting.

Also, he's enthusiastic because he's not only going to see the entire Battle Frontier -Lance might have some issues with them but Ash sure doesn't and he's delighted to see them all again- but it's Christmas Eve! Lance promised they were going to buy presents later on and he's excited because he wants to buy everyone some gifts too. He might not have spoken to his friends in a while but he hasn't forgotten about them at all. He just… wanted some space and perhaps wait until everyone's misery and anger settled down a bit.

He smiles widely at Riley, who returns the smile but he still seems a bit nauseous. Apparently, it's been a while since he's been in a car and even before that, he was never too good at dealing with car rides. Lance has brought a bucket with him, just in case everything goes south all of a sudden. Ash just learned something new today, though, it seems like Riley's willingness to show up at Christmas Eve has everything to do with the fact he doesn't celebrate Christmas at all. He a 'pagan' apparently, though Ash quickly assures him he was raised like that as well as his mom did kind of decorate the house and did go along with some of her carolling friends and baked cookies… but as far as the gift-giving tradition went, he never noticed much of it. In fact, Lance had to explain to him why he was so dead-set on getting gifts today and initially, Ash thought it was a Johto tradition. But then the man assured him that his mother had been cheap-skating her way out of the gifts, so there was that to digest.

Neither Riley nor Lance seem happy at the fact he's never received a Christmas gift but he's also pretty sure that'll be rectified soon. So Ash isn't too worried, he hopes he will have a good time in the pokémon league building, if anything, he'll get to see one of Lance's fight up close. There seems to be some kind of arrangement that friends and family of the trainers can go sit in a special area, which apparently has an awesome view of the battlefield. He's all for it, it's feels like it's been ages since he's last been near an arena and he can't wait to feel that exhilarating thrill of a battle again. However, as they arrive at the pokémon league building, Ash can't help but feel… like something _awful_ is going to happen.

It makes him halt in front of the large glass doors and it's Riley who picks up on his discomfort.

"What's the matter?"

"I just… It feels like something's not right."

"Keep that idea in mind and be vigilant. Maybe you can spot what's wrong before something happens."

Ash likes the vote of confidence but what's he supposed to do, huh? He can't even run and yeah, they figured out that he can do a bit of Aura stuff but it's all small and not really enthusiastic. He's still nervous to use this entire world full of wonderful pink and gold, even in front of Riley because he doesn't want to scare the man off. Then again, rejecting a student is apparently also a sin, especially if the rejection is based on a bad reason or no reason at all, so there's little chance of that happening but he's still got his doubts. He always has so Ash guesses he'll just have to deal with that as well.

"You good?" Lance asks as it seems he's not looking all too well.

"I… guess so. Sorry, I don't know what's wrong."

"It's okay, I'll be sure to keep an eye on you and when I can't, I'll have a couple of friends be near you. You can trust them to listen to you, in fact, with how well of an impression you've left on everyone here, I bet they would've listened to you anyway, even if they didn't know my link to you."

"Thank you," the boy says gratefully.

He's glad no one's telling him he's just being silly or that he's bonkers, like they had done in Pallet. It had never mattered that he had told them the tide was going to come in too high, that some of the buildings would flood, they would never listen. Even if the weatherman told them about the heavy rainfall and that people living near water should need to be careful. Again, Ash won't bother anyone with something he's not sure of. That's why he's not telling Lance that he feels like there's going to be an accident. He gets an awful taste in his mouth when he steps inside the lobby of the building and when he looks at the tile he's on, Ash gets the distinct impression that someone will get very hurt whilst standing on this tile. It's very jarring and it makes him a bit dizzy as well, hence why he is startled to find his uncle stand so close all of a sudden.

"What's the matter?" Lance asks, grabbing him by the shoulder this time.

"I feel like the security should be upped," Riley answers for Ash. "There's an unhealthy vibe in here. I didn't notice it until I was told… but it's here."

The man gives the other a hard look but he turns back to face the boy.

"I need you to start being honest with me about those feelings of yours, Ash. I know you're special and that you won't lie to me but I would rather raise security for nothing than ignore you."

Ash nods slowly and he can't help feeling a bit tearful, he's starting to feel a bit sick too. It gets better when he moves away from the tile but then he trips on something.

"Ah!"

Thank heavens for Lance's quick reflexes, the man grabs him before he hits the floor. Ash is bewildered because there had been nothing but tiles before… Now though, there seemed to be a content Espeon rubbing its head against his prosthesis. There's no way he could have known _that_ but maybe that's why his uncle doesn't tell him to be careful. The pokémon goes to sit next to him and Ash feels like he's met it before.

"… You're Anabel's Espeon, aren't you?"

"She is, yes."

Ash turned around, the bad feeling of that tile completely forgotten as he saw Anabel stand there, looking at him with a smile. It took all his willpower to not grab the girl like he had done with Misty and Brock, despite wanting to do it _so_ badly. She seemed to notice, the girl held her arms open and it was all he needed to hug her. He's not sure if she can feel just how relieved he is to see her again, that she was one of the friends Gary somehow hadn't been able to fool as he knew better than to involve her in the mess that was his world. And yes, here she is, despite everything, still nice to him.

"I've missed you, Ash," she says after a while and she still holds him close. "I've missed you _so_ much."

He can't do much but hold her a bit closer, he knows damn well know that she knows exactly how he feels. Ash doesn't like how he is relying on her empathy to tell her what he's feeling like but he's still such a sucker for hugs and he's still not got the right words to convey some of his emotions.

"I'm sorry that I didn't contact you earlier," he says instead because he means that too. "I wish I could have but it was all such a mess, I didn't know who to trust not to get angry at me and there's only so much pity I can take in a day. I've already had two friends blubbering all over me, I don't know if I can handle more, that's why I never… I'm so sorry, Anabel."

"You know how I feel too."

Does he, though? He gets a lot of impressions and he's often not sure if he's just making assumptions or getting information from somewhere unknown. Well, not exactly unknown but he's still not sure on how a powerful psychic he really is. Still, he makes an effort and holds on for a second.

"… You're hungry?"

Anabel chuckles but she nods.

"That too," she says and separates from the hug. "It's nice seeing you again, Ash but I guess you would understand why."

"I guess I'm just returning the favour."

"That's still something no one else has done for me, no matter what."

"I think you ought to find other bigots-I mean, friends to be around, then."

As Anabel giggles, Ash notices that Riley is giving them a strange look. He cocks his head to the side in question, urging the man to speak up. It's got no use being silent near Anabel anyway, even if he's a trainer Aura Guardian. There's not much that can stop an empath, it's one of the reasons why no one wants to be near Anabel. She's told him before on how she's sad why she had been shunned because she's one of the rare empaths who don't need to touch people to know how they're feeling. At the time, he had nodded in sympathy but it's now that he understands just what it entails. He's had so much luck that the doctors and nurses at Celadon Central hadn't rejected him despite all the trouble he's put them through but he feels like that's got everything to do with professionalism. The outside world, though… something told Ash that he was going to have some issues getting people to understand him too. Without somehow managing to creep them out, too.

"What language are you kids speaking?" the man utters, looking from Ash to Anabel.

"I'm an empath," she clarifies and the teen finds it hard to believe the girl has never met Riley before. It's possible, though but he admires how confident she is… though he knows that, as she turns to look at him, she's only confident because _he_ is here.

He suddenly feels ten feet tall but Riley still doesn't seem to understand.

"She can feel your emotions," he clarifies.

"Yes, alright but that doesn't explain why you were speaking alien as well."

"Alien?" Anabel repeats in disbelief but she's clearly amused by the statement. "Oh, Ash, let's keep doing it. Talk alien to me."

"In the end, there's not going to be much difference," he answers with a grin.

"All it's going to take is a bit of patience, though."

"Of all the things in the world, _that's_ what you pick? Why not habit? It's easier."

Riley looks like he's going to get a heart attack but Ash understands Anabel perfectly. He's just answering what she's telling him and it's a hoot. He's never felt this kind of kinship with anyone and he really enjoys the feeling. It seems she does too and he supposes that's what you get when you put the weird ones together. He's got no claims of being lumped together with someone like Anabel, though. Of all the kids he's met in the world, she's the only one who hasn't become angry at him at all. Perhaps a bit frustrated but Ash has been often frustrated with himself too so he can hardly judge her for it.

"You kids are unbelievable," the man sighs and it's around about that time when Ash notices Lance isn't there any longer.

"Where did my uncle go, then?" he asks, looking around but not seeing the man anywhere.

"Off. Said he was going to follow your gut feeling and raise security. He told me to go to the stands, he's not going to come back before the match ends."

"Oh, alright, I guess that's fine."

"I'll leave you be, then. I'll be seeing you, though, I was told you're going to meet with Brandon? You as well, then I suppose, sir?" Anabel asks, looking at Brandon with a very cheeky smile.

"… Yes?" the man says hesitantly, definitely not liking the look in the girl's eyes.

"Wonderful," she says. "I'll see the two later then. See you, Ash, sir."

The teen smiles at her as she leaves and when he turns to Riley, he can't help but chuckle at the dubious expression on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought an empath was supposed to only be able to feel the emotions of something or someone they are in contact with?"

"Not Anabel, she's special. She doesn't need to touch you."

Riley's face changes as if he's got a piece of Iapapa berry in his mouth. It makes Ash chuckle again, he likes the effect Anabel has on the man, he gets a whole lot funnier when he's confused.

"And you. What were you reading minds for?"

"I wasn't reading minds, I get impressions."

"Same thing," the man says. "What's all that about, you didn't tell me any of that when I told you what you could do with your Aura."

"But I don't need Aura to do that. See, when I got admitted to the hospital, there was a whole lot more wrong with me than just the leg and it's believed that a pokémon found me first. A strong Psychic-type. And it healed me but it's healed it like it thinks it should be like."

"… Like a Psychic-type," Riley says and his expression gets a whole lot more dubious all of a sudden. "So you're basically a psychic?"

"Somewhat yeah. I can close doors and stuff like that. Floating plates, you know?"

"I don't like magic," the man says as he stuffs his hands in his pockets.

"It's not magic," Ash giggles. "You said it yourself, it's enhancement."

"It goes beyond that, you can take me for the fool I am but I'm not _actually_ a fool. I'm not going to mess with a psychic."

"I can't read your mind, Riley. Please, trust me."

The man doesn't answer, he stands there for a little while, staring at the teen until Ash grows self-conscious about it.

"What are you doing?" he asks and baulks when Riley eventually answers.

"Yeah, you can't read minds. You would've gotten angry at me if you know what I just had in mind."

Ash doesn't like that and besides, he can kind of guess what the man had been thinking about anyway. He doesn't need to read minds to know what can make him angry. Riley's not really that mysterious either, he knows damn well that it would upset him if he were to up and leave right now.

"You're not a sinner, though," he says and the man's face crumples.

"No alien."

"It's alien in the way how you can't understand what I'm saying, yeah."

"I'm not going to play mind tricks with you, kiddo. I'm not doing myself a favour by asking you to dumb down your sentences either but we could talk fine before you met the empath."

"The _empath_ is called Anabel. You can call her by her name, she's not going to magically appear next to you if you say it out loud."

"I'm not taking my chances," Riley says. "I'm not joking when I say I don't like magic."

"… So… If I am like… magic, you don't… like me?"

His feelings aren't fake, he's taken aback because no one has ever told him they don't like him as blatantly as that. As Riley splutters that he doesn't mean it like that, Ash does realise the man means it too but it still hurt. It's not until the man tells him how the Aura community suffered because their assailants were magicians that he somewhat understands his feelings.

"You would know I would never hurt you or anyone else, Riley," Ash answers. "And trust me, I've not seen Anabel for years, I was just happy to see her. And her response was just delight, you're really funny. We weren't bullying you or anything."

"I never said that. All I said was that I don't like magic."

"Neither Anabel nor I are magic. We're both psychics. And if you've ever read the pokémon league book, it has a couple of pages with describes all the pokémon types and it's clearly stated that the acts of psychics need to come from an extraordinary ability to use the mind in a way that can influence a physical object without the use of any other object or guide or can reach the mind of another with their own through invisible means. In no way is that magic, I can't make a broken light work but I can flip a lightswitch without needing to touch it. I'm not a magician."

"… I guess so."

"You don't need to, I've just told you."

Riley doesn't seem convinced at all and it annoys the heck out of Ash. It's why he doesn't speak up again, despite the man making some comments on the seats and the state of the arena that did deserve a response. Ash just wishes the man would realise what he had done by making those claims, by not believing him. He knows nothing good is going to come from ignoring him either but what is he supposed to do? He doesn't have Lance by his side, he doesn't have anyone to support him, other than a person who's insanely biased on his abilities.

"I'm sorry, Ash," Riley says, out of the blue, completely against the boy's expectations. "I don't want you to feel bad, I suppose… you not getting healed at all would have meant you wouldn't even be alive, huh?"

"Dr. Martin says I had a black mass in my brain," Ash answers quietly.

It takes a while for Riley to say something after that but he repeats how sorry he is and grabs the boy in a sideways' hug. Nothing truly matters to the teen other than the promise that, no matter what, he would _never_ leave or reject him.

"I'm just an old fogey, I need time to digest things," the man chuckles. "And I suppose I can hardly condemn you for something you didn't choose."

"Anabel didn't either. She's got massive issues sometimes, not a lot of people get funny when they're confused. And sometimes, after that confusion, they get angry and aggressive. For someone who can feel that change, I imagine that can be very scary."

"… Right, I'll just deal with the alien, then."

"Thank you, Riley. And I'm sorry too."

"Just remind me not to get on your bad side, okay? I mean, a powerful Aura user with unknown traits and the capacities of a psychic? It's a bit overkill, isn't it?"

"You're responsible for what you teach me, Riley, I'm not powerful right now. And as for the psychic thing, I can make the plate float, if I throw it at you, you could probably catch it before it even reaches whatever part I was aiming to hit. It'd be faster and harder if I just flung it at you with my hands."

"Oh."

"The impressions aren't handy either."

"Well no, it's… just that those two things could work well together, you know? That psychic thing and the Aura? If you manage to master Sight and add that with the impressions, it would tell you when and what would happen whenever you feel like something is going to happen."

"You think I can do that? I'm not really powerful."

Riley quickly assures him that he'll teach him as well as he can and that there's always a possibility that one or two trades just aren't for him but there are many possibilities he could choose from. So he shouldn't worry, there's an awful lot of things he can teach them and the one is more useful than the other, yes, but not necessarily useless. Ash feels a bit better now that this situation has been cleared up too but as he sits there, in a seat of the arena that _definitely_ feels better than the ones he's used to -that's probably got everything to do with the fact he's suddenly been acknowledged as direct family of Lance- he suddenly feels a very strange sensation in his head.

" **The power is there, the control needs to be thought. Forget not that I promised to teach you. I just thought it was better not to do it in a hospital where everyone was already walking on eggshells around you."**

'Oh boy,' the teen thought and he could feel the sensation pull out of his head.

As strange as it was, he did kind of appreciate the idea that Mewtwo was here, with his kind of luck to attract bullshit and whatnot, it was better to have plenty of eyes on him. But the idea that he was going to have to remember everything his _two_ teachers told him and not confuse the one with the other… It was better if Riley never knew about Mewtwo but then again, he will probably realise. Ash doesn't understand how the man can dislike magic when he's literally not ageing like everyone else is but _okay_. He's just going to need to do his very best, that's all.


	12. Be Careful What You Say (It Might Be Used Against You)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made my own deadline, hurray! So pleased with myself :3  
> In case anyone's wondering how my hands are, they're fine, no worries!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this new chapter!

Lance's fight goes amazing and it's only halfway that Ash realises the battle is part of a large charity event kind of thing. It's not a realisation on his part, mind you, there's only so much you can remain unaware of if the commentator on the platform above the arena loudly proclaims the charity event, as well as all the other parts that take place because of it. The teen is pleased that it's to fund the rebuild of Orre's cities, he knows they need all the help they can get. He also remembers the old man back in the lobby of the hospital and he loves the idea of him being forced to look at this match because all TV shows have been cancelled to broadcast this. The old man would have only two options, one being to either watch the match or turn off the TV in total. And he would probably need to put in a CD or something because the match was followed on many radio channels too.

His mood only improves once the commentator tells him just how many people are watching because to him, it's all one big middle finger to that old man and everyone with a similar opinion. So he's got a pleased as punch smile on his face and it's not just because of his small victory only he knew about, it's also because Lance's Dragonite is beating the snot out of its opponent. And it's funny because the pokémon is a little slower than usual, due to the coldness of Winter. It still overpowers the Water-type but Ash still feels like those Ice-type attacks were just there to try and overpower Lance's pokémon. It doesn't show too much effect, his uncle leaves his dragon den open to the elements for that reason, to allow them to get used to the cold. And the pokémon do not object, they clearly love the idea to get stronger.

As much as Ash has already seen of the pokémon, they're very prideful and he knows that Ice-type pokémon are usually more dainty that Dragon-types, who take pride in their muscles and teeth. Froslass, for example, is dwarfed in front of a Salamence and yet, by power, it's a lot more powerful than the dragon. He's still amazed by the grace the Dragonite shows, though, he hadn't expected that from the bulky pokémon. As he's marvelling over the dragon, his stomach suddenly churns and he straightens or else his lunch will come out. He must've gone white because Riley steadies him the moment his back hits the backrest of his chair but it takes him a moment to reassure the man he's fine because he's out of breath all of a sudden.

"S-sorry," he gasps, barely able to breath. "I don't… know what came over me."

"I do. Will you be okay for a little? I need to check on something."

"Oh, yeah, sure," the teen says and swallows hard.

He's not sure if he's actually okay, though, his instinct is screaming at him to get up and run towards that tile but his mind is telling him not to, that he will get hurt and that he will cause more grief unless he remains seated. Ash is torn but just when he feels like fainting, a rather cold hand grabbed his shoulder. He looks up and god, he just wished he could smile at the unlikely visitor.

"Dear Lord, you don't look fit enough to sit outside," Cynthia says and she practically drags him out of the chair. "Look at you, you're white as a sheet and cold as ice. Come on, you can come sit with me."

Ash felt like he was sweating badly, though but he followed her anyway. His vision goes white for a second and it's the feeling of Pikachu's fur brushing against his cheek that brings him back. There's still a bit of fuzz around the edge of his sight but at least he sees where he's going again. His feet suddenly hit carpet and when the woman holds the door open for him, he feels a wave of warmth wash over him. Seems like he was cold, after all. Then again, when had Cynthia _not_ been right, hm?

"Here we go, that'll be better," she says and Ash feels incredibly safe now.

He's got a good view of the arena as well but he's _so_ pleased to find his godmother sit at his other side.

"Riley has a good head on his shoulders but he should realise that he's the only one used to such cold temperatures," Cynthia fusses and she lays her coat over him.

It's very comfortable, the coat has got a lovely fluffy and warm edge around the hood and neck and he catches a whiff of floral perfume. It makes his nose tingle, he's still got his overly sensitive hay fever to mind but the perfume isn't strong enough to make him sneeze. Instead, the warmth and comfort nearly makes him drift off but Agatha's hand reaching out to brush some hair out of his face stops him from doing so. Her hands are pretty cold too.

"Don't give him a fever now, dear," she says as if Ash is out cold. He doesn't mind, he's too comfortable to move anyway.

"I'll be careful, don't worry. It's strange, though, he just lets me do this."

"He's a very kind boy, Cynthia. And you know certain accidents change people. He most certainly is one of them. And look at him, he's white as a sheet, they should have really known better than to leave him in the cold, poor boy."

Oh, but now Ash feels _really_ nice. It's only his curiosity that's keeping him awake but honestly, what had changed so much about him that they suddenly liked him so much? Granted, they probably thought he was asleep and he's pretty sure they wouldn't have said anything if they knew he could hear them… but he likes hearing that he's exactly what he thought he was too. Maybe he's a bit rude from time to time but that was to be expected from a teen, right? At least his mom had kept saying it, standing there in that typical pose of hers, her hand against her cheek and looking all worried for the future. Maybe she had seen what would become of her, if he had been in her shoes, he would have been worried too.

He's not at all sure if he's ever going to be going back to Pallet. Ash isn't even sure whether he _wants_ to, he doesn't hate the place but he doesn't love it either. The issues he's had with the town speak for themselves and he's already noticed how much he enjoys the feeling of Mahogany Town a billion times more than the one in Pallet Town. And it's not because the people don't know him at his new residence, the thing is that they _do_. He belatedly realises he's passed through there before and every Gym leader has contact with the people and well… The bloody Lake of Rage. The first time he's ever been in the way of an elite trainer and they both hadn't even known their connection with each other. Ash still wonders if Lance cursed him for being there that time but there's no way the man remembers _or_ that he would be honest to him about it. The answer would probably make him sad anyway so maybe it's for the best that he spares himself the effort of asking, when he can already guess what kind of reaction he would have gotten, all those years ago.

"Is that Ash?" he suddenly hears and it's a young man's voice, one he's never heard before. "Lance's nephew?"

"Yes," someone else answers, someone not at all near him. "Let him sleep, Will."

"Mm-hm."

Ash can feel the same sensation as that time where Mewtwo had spoken directly into his mind and he doesn't feel like it's a safe thing that a stranger is doing it to him without asking him. He has enough bad dreams to give this psychic a good scare, though and the spookiest one is the one where he remembers exactly what the pokémon who attacked him looked like. It's atrocious, its speed and anger are so visible and even if it pains Ash to think about it, the thud he hears when the young man called Will falls from his seat is more than enough to make him feel like the action was vindicated.

"Mother of-!" the young man cries out as it sounds like he's trying to scramble up from the floor. "You need to wake him up, he's having a nightmare."

That's why he gets a jab at his arm and he straightens with a snort as it startled him.

"Kid, kid, are you okay?"

Ash raises his head and looks at the person behind him, who is looking at him too. It sort of looks ridiculous because he now sees the young man upside down. It doesn't matter, though, he's got one important question for him.

"How did you know I had a nightmare?"

"I'm a psychic and-"

"There a law against breaching the mind of an unconscious person."

The man stares at him.

"You've got a law degree?"

"No, but I can read. What were you doing in my head?"

"You're too much like Lance, kid, it's not even funny. All you need is red hair and you're a mini-version of him."

"Thanks. You need a whole lot more to, you know, be a decent person if all you have is diversions to keep yourself from getting arrested."

"… And here I was, thinking you were a nice kid."

"I find you knees deed in my trauma and I'm supposed to be nice?" Ash chuckled. "That's not the way it works, sir."

"Oh… Yeah, I suppose not. Sorry, kid." The young man says and to his credit, he seems truly apologetic. "I suppose it's not too late to make a good impression on you?"

"You can try," the teen offers helpfully. "You could start by introducing yourself, sir?"

"O-oh, I'm sorry, I thought you knew, I'm Will. I'm one of the elite four members of Johto."

"Nice to meet you, Will."

"Leave the kid alone, man," a blue-haired woman says and Ash has enough time to think she's pretty before she somehow manages to swear Will out of the room. "He's so bloody nosy sometimes."

The woman makes no move to introduce herself but the way she carries herself and chooses to sit in the far back of the room, in the darkest corner possible, gives away she's a Dark-type trainer. He just _knows_ it.

"That's Karen, Ash," Cynthia helpfully supplies. "Be careful when approaching anyone from the Johto league, they can be extremely volatile to some people. You just noticed first-hand what Will is capable of… Though colour me surprised, how did you know?"

"It tickles whenever someone does that. Don't know how I know, just that it tickles," Ash answers. "Thank you for letting me use your coat, Cynthia," he adds, as he hands her the _very_ warm coat back. "It's done wonders."

"I'm glad, I was really worried. You still don't look too great…"

"That's got nothing to do with the cold, no worries, I'll be fine. Can I… stay here? For now? I don't want to be outside right now."

Because things were happening and he couldn't run from it. Stumble, yes, but then he could get trampled and he kind of wanted to live on. And from the looks of it, Lance's last challenger was down on their last pokémon too, so it wasn't going to take long before they would leave to go see Brandon anyway. Even though he kind of wanted to stay near Agatha and Cynthia. He doesn't know why but he feels pretty nice, sitting there with the two.

"Of course, you can stay here, you can stay as long as you like, Ash."

* * *

When Lance hears the news of what's happened on the _exact_ spot Ash predicted something was going to happen, he's both pleased and pissed at the same time. He doesn't want extra work at all but Riley's involved in the mess too, so they're _definitely_ going to be running late to their 'appointment' with Brandon. That the man had even put them on a timeslot was ridiculous, all he needed to do was step into his flying pyramid and fly off, never to be seen again. In fact, after Riley got the confirmation he needed to get going, Lance certainly wouldn't mind it if he never saw the man again.

"A bomb terrorist?" he repeats with plenty of feeling behind it when Riley re-joins him and tells him what had happened earlier. "Are you for real?"

"Yes. I know better than to bypass a psychic's instinct so when I saw Ash look physically ill, I ran here. Just in time to stop the bomb belt from going off."

"And _how_ did you do that?"

"What do you think? Aura, of course. You _know_ what I'm capable of."

"Yes, and you're not capable of stopping a bomb belt."

"Ah, _fine_!" Riley sighs. "He was about to press the button when a group of kids came in and I created a shield around him. Told him he was going to be the only one dying… softly. The kiddies were watching my shield so I couldn't, you know, curse at him, could I?"

"You're unbelievable, Riley."

"And your nephew, he's normal too, isn't he? You couldn't have told me he's a psychic, huh?"

"Honestly? He shows so little of it, I keep forgetting it. What did he do, then?"

"Get visions? Lance, he could even pinpoint where it was going to happen."

The man rolled his eyes, it was all a coincidence. If he hadn't taken Ash to the league today, the kid would never have known. And just because Riley was such an easy person to upset with luxury, he had come in through the normal entrance. As a Champion, he had his own key to get into the buildings of the pokémon league and you could bet he would take his nephew through that entrance next time. Bomb terrorist, dear god…

"What happened to him, then? The terrorist, I mean?"

"He got jumped on by officers, you _did_ raise security."

"That I did… Well, are we good to go, then?"

"Err yeah, I guess so. I guess we just got to go get Ash."

"… You left him there?"

"You rather would have me drag him along when there's bomb-"

Riley stops talking and for a moment, Lance believes there's another class of 'kiddies' passing by because this man is a _saint_ and he will not swear in front of children. It doesn't matter how many times he's told him that he's the only one in the world who doesn't occasionally swear and kids will get to know that one word you don't want them to know straight away, first try too. That's just how kids worked, _man_ , is he glad Ash is old enough to know what social cues are.

"Oh, he's right there," the man says and points.

"Of course, he's with Cynthia," Lance sighs and no, he doesn't mind her but she's sticky.

If Ash got her curious about what he was doing here, she was definitely going to tag along. Not that this would truly be an issue but Brandon's a bit of a bootlicker when it comes to Cynthia. Not because he's attracted to her, it's because they can spend hours talking about the oldest, most useless things. There's no way he wants to be involved in any of those conversations but it seems like Ash has been keeping her at arm's length. Though he looks a bit off.

"Ash!"

"Uncle!" the boy exclaims and yes, Lance approaches him because he knows the kid can't run yet. Probably another reason why Riley had left Ash be.

"How are you doing? You're looking pale, buddy. You okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's the tile thing that's gotten me a bit upset," Ash answered. "And Will. He was trying to snoop."

"Ash told him off, though," Cynthia chuckles. "And then Karen, of course, he can't win when she gets going."

"Good job, buddy, I don't want Will near you when you're on your own."

"Okay, Lance. You heard him, Pikachu? You're free to be scary when Will approaches me again."

The pokémon looks far too pleased with that but Lance has already spoken to Mr. Goodshow about what he should do when Ash wants to start travelling again. He's free to do so, as long as he wants to, that is, even if Mr. President seemed a bit worried about the boy starting to train again and going too far away regions. The regulations for kids like Ash to allow him to travel again are… bad. In fact, the only thing that seems to be happening naturally is the fact that Ash will have to appoint a pokémon who will be with him all the time and have it protect him. Which is basically fits Pikachu's current role perfectly.

'He might as well get used to it, it's going to be the only way for him to ever travel again,' he thinks to himself and even if it pains him that _he_ 's going to need to be the one telling his nephew all about it, he's going to have to. Even if that'll leave him open and bare for Ash's initial reactions and misgivings.

Either way, Ash told Cynthia nothing, other than that he was here to watch the charity event, which makes it easy for them to shake her off. Even if she promises to come by but honestly, Lance doesn't mind that a bit, she's one of his best friends too, mostly because he had been one of the few many who didn't, you know, try to hit on her. It's only because he thought he wasn't good enough for her but whatever works, right?

"I'm sorry if I worried you," Ash says as he hesitantly reaches for Lance's hand. "I didn't know what to do and I didn't… want to make you feel like I'm some kind of burden you're supposed to carry so I just managed, I suppose. I didn't tell her anything, though, if that helps."

"You're alright, kiddo, don't worry. I wouldn't be here, looking after you if I didn't want to. And you've been a massive help, I didn't think you would know Cynthia is a bit nosy."

"I'm always on edge when someone is interested in me. That was already the case when I went to Sinnoh, unfortunately."

Lance understands and he gives the boy's hand a little squeeze. There's no way he's going to give the boy grief about anything that happened today, if anything, he's done the best he could have done. Will is _not_ a kind young man, he _will_ take advantage of Ash's kindness when given and Karen will probably not do anything to Ash but at the same time, she's an adult woman who has little to no patience with children. Not to mention that fact he's somehow tipped off Riley on this bomb idiot, dear god, how is any teenager supposed to handle that kind of information without a nightmare or two? Ash admitted that his paleness was because of that thing that happened on the title so that was enough for him to know that the boy knows what's happened.

"Let's get Brandon over and done with and then, we'll get you some nice gifts, okay?"

"Okay. Can I get you and Clair something too?"

"If you want to, you can."

Ash nodded and just seemed pleased with himself, which is already a good start. That Delia, as a mother, had never even thought about giving the boy a gift and honestly… Lance had gone to see her a little while ago and she wasn't doing well. Instead of improving, she was now basically blaming all her 'misfortune' on Ash and that was exactly the tendency he was starting to recognise from what his nephew was telling him. It usually wasn't much, the boy needed some prompting to talk about it and every time, Lance vowed to himself he was never letting the kid go back to that blasted town of two-faced people. He knew why _he_ dislikes that little place, after all.

* * *

Ash is pleased to see Scott again and his initially happy reaction what basically what defuses the somewhat tense situation going on between the man and his uncle. In fact, he is oblivious to the staring contest going on behind his back, his focus is on the people he's not seen in a while. Even if he's a bit confused about why they are all here, he just takes in in his stride and goes over to greet them.

"Hiya, everyone. Been a while since we've last met, huh?"

"Why are you so slow?" is the first thing Greta says to him and he's so taken aback by it that he forgets to answer. "Ash? You there?"

"I… had an accident," he says and turns to look at Anabel but she just shrugs and looks quite helpless.

"One that took all your energy?"

He blinks.

"Brandon," Greta says and repeats his name to get the man's attention. "Brandon, there's no way you can tell _him_ he's being a pain, look at him! He's not even saying anything?"

Ash can't do much but look at Brandon now either and he gives him a little smile.

"Hi, Brandon. Good to see the _real_ you this time around."

"Don't remind me."

"My physiotherapist is called Brandon too."

The man pulls a face at that but Greta isn't done yet.

"What do you need a physiotherapist for?"

"He helps me with my prosthesis."

"You have a prosthesis?" she asks, bewildered. "Where?"

"My leg," the teen answers amused, "The left one."

"I can't see it."

"Well, no, of course not, I'm wearing pants."

"Why?"

"… 'Cause it's December and it's cold?"

"Ash, why do I have to keep asking you all this? You could have said everything in one, nice, proficient sentence and yet I have to pull it out of you."

"I'm sorry, I've had to repeat it to so many people already, I can't keep up with who knows and who doesn't. I assumed that Scott would've told you but… why would you ask me why I'm wearing pants at all?"

"Yoish, at least you're speaking up at all. You ought to come visit my dojo instead of visiting a physiotherapist, it'll go quicker that way. The moving, I mean."

"Perhaps, I'll think about it."

In the meantime, Riley has already moved towards Brandon and is silently talking to the man. Ash doesn't really need to know what they're saying to each other, he's got a good idea what's going on anyway. He's very confused still, though.

"Is it typical that the pokémon league makes people come in on Christmas Eve?" he asks.

"It's noon, we're not celebrating anything yet until later today," Noland answers. "In fact, I've not had many challengers at all so I take every opportunity to battle. It keeps my pokémon in shape."

"You don't get any challengers because you keep tinkering away in your laboratory for heaven knows how long," Lucy says accusingly. "There's plenty of spots where you can find people willing to battle, you're just not looking."

"Alright, alright."

"Ash?"

The teen perks up at the sudden outcall of his name and he sees Riley motioning to follow him. Brandon is already going into a hallway somewhere and so, with a last nod to the other Frontier Brains, he follows. Slowly.

"Don't worry, it's alright," Riley says and even though Ash isn't worried, it still makes him feel a bit more comfortable about this situation.

"Will Lance be okay?"

"He's on better terms with us that with Scott," Brandon answers. "I've told Anabel to keep an eye on him too."

"Oh, thank you, I feel better knowing about that," the teen says because he's pretty sure the girl is ballsy enough to tell Scott to shut up if she feels Lance's emotions suddenly spike up or something.

"I do want to apologise, I… I didn't think you would be this calm or well-mannered. I've misjudged you on a bias due to… the unfortunate temper of someone your age and I don't know why. Something clouded my judgement and it's harmed a very dear relation of mine. I hope you will help me make it up to your uncle."

"I don't think he is mad at you, though I think you could just get away with a simple apology. Scott, on the other hand… I'm not sure what he can do. There's something between the two that's not right. Do you know what that's about?"

"I'm not sure but I have a feeling it has something to do with the fact Scott refused to support Lance when he travelled to Orre."

"He _went_ there?!" Ash exclaims, startled beyond belief because holy moly, _now_ he understands why his uncle sleeps with a night light and doesn't want any of his pokémon in his room.

When he first learned about that fact, he had been confused because oh, what he would give to have some of his pokémon with him. He's afraid to ask him about it too, he doesn't think that it'll be an experience he would like to talk about either… but he's curious about what it's like, over there. Probably not nice but Ash realises it's morbid curiosity, one that, if he listens to it, he'll lay awake at night thinking about it. If, of course, his uncle ever answers his questions.

"Yes, it was all part of a very secured and safe mission," Brandon answers calmly. "To this day, I still don't understand what qualms Scott had about us going there, I, for one, would have been more than willing to document the happenings in that place but I feel like Scott found too risky for some reason. Then again, Lance has changed since he's come back from Orre so I fear the mission was not as safe as secure as it was intended to be. Though I feel like you've also been an influence on him, he's become much calmer since you've come into the picture. I think I know why."

"I try not to judge if that's what you mean?"

"Quite. It suits you, Ash but I think the change goes beyond that. Maybe it even has something to do with what you're here for today."

"My Aura? I don't think that's got anything to do with it, I've done all kinds of stupid things during the years I've had it. If there's anything I know that could've changed me, is that I sat still and thought about things for a little while. And that some many unlikely people have gone out their way to help me, it really made me feel humble and… liked. I don't feel like I need to… go to extreme lengths to get attention, not like in the past. I don't feel like I need to be the best at something for people to notice me, I just need to do _my_ best and they'll all be happy."

"Highly likely, it's very becoming on you. I think you'll grow up nicely if that's the way you see things."

"It helps that my surroundings don't just exist to bring me down too," Ash deadpans. "Wouldn't book a vacation in Pallet unless you want to feel bad and judged."

"Even with strangers?" the man asks.

" _Especially_ with strangers."

"Hm… Then it's all too well that you have found a better spot. _Is_ it better? I don't feel like Lance is a pleasant person to stay around."

"You're entitled to your opinion but I like him a lot. He's been there for me when no one else was and he's dealt with an awful lot of Taurus crap while he totally could've run away. No one forced him to face my mom and he did it. No one, not even me, told him about the issues I had and yet he still fixed them. I don't feel like I owe him anything but I like what he's done for me and my family."

"I see," was all the man says and now the boy feels a bit embarrassed for having spoken up about it.

He didn't think Brandon would care this much but then again, Ash has no clue why he would think he would react like any other teen his age. What is that supposed to mean anyway? Gary is only a couple of months older than him and look what's become of him, huh? Also, again, this was another jab at Barry, he knows that it was… What was going on with the kid? Ash knows this Frontier Brain has little to no patience with children and granted, he didn't make the best first impression either, getting cursed like that, while it could all have been avoided if only he had listened to the man.

It had only been a recent thing, though, him listening to what an adult told him to. He could hear just fine but if he got a single pokédollar for every time someone told him 'Don't do that' without giving any context, Ash would be the richest kid on this planet. If Brandon has just told him that not following him might get him cursed, _hell_ , he would've followed the man like a shadow. How was he supposed to know when not to do something when this person didn't give him a valid reason? 'Don't jump in that puddle' isn't the same as 'I'm going to whoop your ass for getting dirty', is it?

"Please take a seat," Brandon suddenly says and while Ash feels it had mostly been directed at Riley, he goes to sit down anyway. "Now, this Aura of yours… Riley told me it was pink?"

"Yup," the teen answers and proudly takes out the ping pong ball he remembered to take along. "I thought it was kind of more red at the beginning but it went pinker the more I looked at it. No idea why."

"… Is this…?" the man asks and Riley nods seriously. "Okay. Okay so…"

Brandon seems to be thinking long and hard about it before frowning a couple of times.

"None of the Originals could solidify their Aura. No matter how much they would have liked to," he eventually answers. "So instead of an Original, you might just be a new kind of Aura user."

"Yes, but look, Brandon," Riley says and holds out his hand.

Ash is confused when the man reaches out to put the back of his hand against the back of Riley's hand. It doesn't make much sense how Brandon then put his hand with the back of it against his left eye but it must've somehow worked because the man's face changes in a way that makes him believe he's only now realising what he's up against.

"Can you be honest with me, Ash?"

"Euhm…"

"This is a non-supervised room, there are no camera's here or audio-recorders or transmitters. No one will ever hear what happened in this room."

"I… guess so?"

"How close is your connection with Arceus?"

Oh _boy_ , oh boy, how was he supposed to answer _that_ without giving too much away?! He doesn't want to lie, it's kind of obvious they want to help him and he's heard the 'I can't help you if you don't tell me everything' enough to know he's best of being honest.

"… I've helped it once."

"Oh?"

"Err yeah. We kind of went back into time and euhm… There was this man who thought that cheating on Arceus was a good idea but it didn't really end up being what he thought it would be. So he tried to trap Arceus and if we hadn't been there, Arceus would be trapped for a really long time but we _were_ there this time so…"

"Damos?" Brandon says and Ash instantly gets a foul taste in his mouth.

"Yes."

"It's been a while since he's walked on this soil, are you _sure_ that's who you met, Ash?" Riley asks.

"Yeah. Palkia, Dialga and Giratina were there too."

The reaction he gets from Riley isn't unexpected but it's different from what he had thought he would get. The man grabs his arm with a terribly upset expression on his face.

"That… the plush… It was real!?"

"Yeah."

"I _touched_ it."

"So?"

"Ash, that's not…"

"Not what? It didn't hurt you, did it?"

"No, but-"

"Calm yourself, Riley. If the pokémon choose to visit, believe that it came with harmless intentions. Especially since its appearance made you believe it was a plush toy," Brandon says evenly. "Then again, it could be drawn to Ash as well."

"Who isn't?" the other man asks and points to the window where a couple of Pidove are sitting, perched daintily on the tiny bar going from one end of the window to the other.

"Ah…," the man says as he turns to look at the window. "Well, you _have_ traits of a Source, Ash, that much is sure. None of the other trades have such a large amount of their Aura at their disposal. From what I could see, the edges of it could not be seen at first sight, which makes it the biggest pool I've ever witnessed. But the colour and the solidification, though…" the man says, picking up the ping pong ball again as he inspects it a bit closer. "I believe Arceus was very thankful to you for having helped it, Ash, I think it even blessed you, hence the gold."

"Is that even possible?" Riley asks as he looks from Ash to Brandon.

"Some believe that the earth and everything on it was created by Arceus, I don't see why a part of what It created can't be blessed by it. Just because it's the first time it has been recorded, doesn't mean it has never happened before either. It just means that we have a very pure Source in our company."

"Well, yeah…"

"There's no greater threat to a creation than the creator itself," Ash says. "They know exactly what it takes to take their creation apart again. That's exactly what Arceus was planning on doing when I met it. So I do believe It is the creator of this earth."

"Again, your full right to do so, Ash. I can imagine that, if you have met It, it could be an inspiring moment."

"It was. A bit intimidating too, though."

Brandon smiles at him in a way Ash has never seen before. It's got a particular warmth in it and it's very different from the smile he's gotten from bad guys whenever they think he's of interest to them. Then again, Riley had called him a Lore Keeper, so maybe he just wants to document things.

"I wasn't too far off, though and you _did_ speak up at that exact time of my story," Riley pipes up. "And honestly, I think you've already helped me today, I felt more confident and my Aura looked a bit purple."

"I can influence the colour of it?" the boy asks, slightly confused because it really does sound like the turquoise of his mentor and his pink could make an insanely unhappy, murky purple colour but then again, light works differently than paint when it mixes.

"Oh, absolutely, that's exactly what a Source does. You can compare it to an oasis in the desert, it gives Aura users strength, comfort as well as confidence.. but only when there is a bond of some kind between them. It can be a family bond, friendship or any other."

"So it is basically a power up?"

"It goes deeper than that, Ash, especially in your case. Even if we've met before, there should be no way I could feel the effect on your Aura on me and yet I do."

"You do? I guess… it would make sense, a lot of people have told me they feel different when they're around me. Especially in the hospital, there was this nurse who everyone said to be so nice to kids but she was always so sad when she sat with me. It wasn't until I asked her what it was about that she told me she was very ill and that she didn't have anyone to talk to about it. She did seem happier after she told me all about it but I forgot what she told me though."

"… So it works that way too, hm?" Brandon mused. "I have to say, Ash, I've never met anyone like you before. Not in character, not in abilities. I firmly believe the two are attached but the way you attract pokémon and then the solidification… You're a mystery to me as well."

"Hmm, that's no good. I don't want to take him to Rota, Brandon, they could keep him there for heaven knows how long," Riley sighs.

"Not without his guardian's say-so and I believe they've got a firm opponent in Lance whenever it comes to his family's safety."

"Hold on, guys, I don't want to cause Lance any more stress than he's already got and I really don't need to involve him in every little detail of my life, whether he minds it or not. He's already been so selfless and I don't want him to lose that. I've already lost my parents to their feelings, I don't want him to derail because of me either. Please, whatever I am, I don't really care, I'm alive, I'm healthy and oh, Riley, you told me that it didn't really matter what I was, that you would do it trade by trade, see what I could or couldn't do, right? Can we? Please?"

The two adults stare at him and it makes Ash feel nervous. He can't stop himself from feeling this way, whether it's the way his mother has influenced him with her strange ways of raising him or not, he doesn't care. He's not someone who they can step over, he's here and if they want to decide on anything, they'll need to talk to _him_ about it first, not Lance. And if he says 'no' from the start, they have no right to bother his uncle about it.

However, Brandon gets off his chair, comes over and crouches down in front of him, with a terribly serious look on his face. He even puts a hand on Ash's hand, a gesture the boy knows to be a precursor to bad news. He doesn't need that, not now… but he can't tell the man to buzz off, can he?

"Ash, I need you to know that, due to your amazing amount of Aura, you are probably able to notice an awful lot of things that we don't. I know for a fact that Anabel now _adores_ you because the effect you have on people allows her to be able to just focus on you. Just you," the man says and continues when Ash's pulls a face -because _he_ isn't the best person to focus on all the time either. "For someone who usually gets targeted with every single living beings' feelings, just having one person to mind is a world of difference. To her, you really are an oasis of peace."

"Oh," is all the boy says.

"You're a very special person in that regard so if there's ever anything you notice, _anything_ at all, you're free to tell an adult. And _anyone_ of us is interesting in case you feel like your uncle can't handle things any longer."

"What? No, he's fine, I just won't let you guys do that to him," he says, frowning heavily. "Everyone just readily assumes he'll fight for them but it only takes so much before he loses the fight _in_ him. Please, if I'm supposed to bring peace and comfort to people, _let_ me, then. If anyone deserves a bit of that, it's my uncle."

Brandon's eyes shift towards Riley before they focus back on him.

"That's fine. Just know you can talk to any of us."

"About Aura _and_ your nifty psychic tricks," the other man added and now Ash wonders whether Riley is going to keep mentioning it whenever, wherever. If he is, it's going to get old _soon_.

"Psychic?" the Frontier Brain asks. "As well?"

"Yes," Ash answers. "Yes, it's… not like Will's abilities at all, don't worry, I just… know stuff I'm not supposed to."

"I'm not the slightest bit worried," the man says. "All the more reason to speak up, though."

"… 'Kay. Promise me you won't tell anyone?"

"I promise."

It still didn't feel right to Ash, though, even if he was being guided back towards the room where he would meet up with his uncle again. Something was bothering about this but it was odd because nothing had been decided on. His refusal had been heard and so they had stopped. He was not going to Rota, Lance would not get pulled into some nasty business… but then why did he suddenly feel like Rota was a terribly unhappy place.

"Did the two of you escape Rota?" he asks, figuring he might have been feeling that way because of Riley and Brandon's experience.

The way the two men look at each other confirms Ash suspicion and his mood lightens up, he's just proud of himself for having figured it out all by himself.

"Have you gone there, Ash?"

"I did. I met Queen Irene there. It was the first time I ever used my Aura too."

"Not in front of the Queen, I imagine?" Riley asks dryly.

"No, in the Tree of Beginning. For Mew."

"Mew," the man repeats dryly.

"I suppose as a young, pure soul as a Source, the most unlikely creatures will be drawn to you, Ash," Brandon says with a small smile on his face. "Even with Arceus' blessing."

"Yeah but a _Mew_?"

"Let it go, Riley."

The man did but he still looks sour about it. Ash quickly makes a mental note of the fact that he should talk a little less about legendary pokémon, not where Riley can hear it. He gets it, if you like pokémon, meeting a legendary is probably the icing on the cake but… in general, they're just that. Pokémon. As loveable and destructive as any other. A bit stronger and wiser but the teen supposes that comes with age. Something that somehow doesn't happen with people, or so he thinks when he sees Noland steady Scott as they arrive in the larger common room.

"What's going on in here?" Brandon asks startled, quickly moving forwards to help Scott into a chair.

"He suddenly started swaying," the Frontier Brain at the other side of the man says. "I don't know what happened."

Ash can't do much but he's not blind. Besides, he knows that Scott tends to meddle with every case he's got. Not only does he have the 'reign' over at least twelve people, the total amount of Frontier Brains, but he's also free to roam at any building of the pokémon company. Oh, he's probably fine, just overworked and tired because, as he had said before, there's only so much fight in a person before they lose and then they'll have to spend some time building themselves up again. Ash knows that from experience but at least it wasn't _his_ fault he suddenly needed to puzzle himself back together. But he doesn't just want to keep this information to himself so he goes to Anabel, who keeps a safe distance from Scott.

She's probably been told not to meddle an awful amount of time too, hence the automatic response. He stands right next to her and just as Brandon told him just now, she turns to look at him with a smile.

"Alright?" he asks.

"More than alright. I suppose Brandon told you about the effect?"

"Yup. Thought you would like to be spared of Scott's Samaritan feelings today."

"Oh?"

"Maybe later you'll understand but you should tell Scott to _at least_ not keep his phone near him at night. He could use a good rest."

"Burn-out?" she asks

"Nearly there, two steps away from it."

"Well, it's almost the holidays for us, so I suppose it'll be okay."

Not long enough for Scott to grow a habit out of minding his own business, though but Ash saves Anabel from his cynical opinion. Today has become a bit of a rollercoaster and he can't help but feel like his enthusiasm to get trained in Aura got a dark edge around it. Maybe it's just him but he's got a feeling Riley's going to keep asking for clarification on-

"You're sure you don't want to know your trade, Ash?" Riley asks, just as the teen had been thinking about it.

" _Yes_ ," he answers with a lot of feeling. "Why, is it so important?"

"Well no…"

"Then I might as well make up a name for the trade myself."

Apparently, that was the right reaction, Riley's face brightens up and he nods enthusiastically, saying they both should think about a couple of options and that they'll talk about it next time they meet. That sounds alright to Ash, he just wants to go home now, a sentiment he's sharing with his uncle if the way the man stalks outside is any indication.

* * *

Ash didn't think Johto would have this large a mall hiding somewhere but as he finds himself in the middle of it, he can't really deny it's there, right? His uncle looks a bit torn on leaving him on his own too but he counters it with the fact that the gifts are supposed to be surprises, right? Even if he's got no idea on what he should be getting Lance yet, he's had a good look around the house and there's not a lot the man's missing. And he doesn't know him good enough to just find something funny. Besides, his uncle's humour is a bit dark and mean too, so there's that to consider. Nevertheless, he's been keeping his ears open and he's got a bit of a clue because Lance keeps saying that it's getting colder and colder in his room.

Clair tells him to add another blanket or two but the man gets all defensive, saying he's got enough blankets on his bed as is and that she should keep her fleecy nonsense out of his bed. Being the woman she was and rarely in the mood to get snubbed, Clair walks off all huffy of course but Ash has a feeling that Lance thinks every fleece blanket needs to be pastel coloured and only large enough to cover half of the bed. Most are but some aren't so he's just going to have to find a right one for his uncle, which will be enough of a challenge as is… And he knows what he can buy Clair, she has this particular bath product she keeps forgetting to get and so he might as well get if for her. Seeing she's been forgetting it for a year, chances of her remembering it now are small.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"… What if I get something you don't like, though?" Lance asks and suddenly, Ash feels like the adult among the two of them.

"If it's anything Pikachu yellow coloured, you're fine as is. It can literally be anything too, I'll find some use out of it, I promise."

"And if not yellow?"

"Rose gold. It'll match my Aura that way. I dunno, pick something. I'm not going to ditch something because I don't like the colour."

"You mean that? You won't be mad if get something rose gold?"

"I meant it," Ash says, a bit exasperated.

"Okay. Okay, then I suppose it's alright then. Where will we meet?"

"The big carrousel?" he suggested and the man nods.

Ash is at a bit of a disadvantage, he's never set foot in this mall before and he's got no idea where to go. Then again, by the looks of how Lance is navigating through the hallways, the teen figures he's not been here often. So, he takes off, happy to do something independent for once. He's just glad to be out and about with Pikachu at his side again… though he's going to ask Lance if he can't have a couple of his pokémon in the garden or his room. After Christmas, though, Ash doesn't know if professor Oak will even answer a call now or next week. Anabel said that they all had at least a week leave during the holidays, to breach to New Year's so maybe he'll have to wait 'till next year.

"Oh," he says all of a sudden when he sees a very colourful store full of beautiful blankets. "What do you think about that green one, Pikachu?"

The pokémon raises his head to look at it and nudges his cheek. That was a good sign, Pikachu has an excellent taste in blankets and this one sure looks to be soft and big enough. Whether it was big enough for Lance's king-size bed, though, that remained to be seen. Nevertheless, Ash walks in all valiantly and he comes back out with the biggest bag the store manager has because this particular blanket is at least four times bigger than the one displayed in the window but it's _glorious_. It's detailed with gold embroidery, all wavy and nice and oh, it is very soft and warm. The man also said that it was hypo-allergenic, that it's not made from wool from Mareep or Wooloo but plastic beads. They had a jar of those beads on the counter and Ash feels like this was a safe option.

Maybe his uncle doesn't like Clair's fleece because it's static and makes him feel all tingly or if it makes him sneeze. The store manager said something about people being allergic to certain kinds of fabric because it gathers dust and nasty things so yeah… Ash knows what it feels like, not liking something because it gives off an annoying feeling. His mom knew damn well that he had hay fever and that certain types of pollen carrying flowers made him sneeze like mad but that didn't stop her from planting every single plant he was allergic to in her garden. And then, of course, she would complain about why he never came into the garden or come help her with it.

He's content now though and he finds the brand of Clair's favourite bath products fairly quickly too. It's a very flashy store and oh, isn't he happy that they all swear with somewhat unusual organic products? The scents, the lovely young woman tells him with a lot of enthusiasm, are all synthetic and not tested on pokémon. By the looks of it, Pikachu wouldn't mind having this scent on it, so when the nice saleswoman guides him to a fairly large box filled with all sorts of products, all in the scent range of the name he's remembered Clair having moaned about, he picks up a box with samples for grooming sessions. A little bit goes a long way with pokémon and by the smell of it, the tiniest drop will leave a distinct smell. The young woman is pleased to make such a quick sale too and she tells him as much too. He's not weirded out by it by the slightest, he's never been averse to happiness, even if it's somehow generated by money but he still sees the couple who were already there when he came in, talk to another saleswoman who seemed to have plenty of work trying to convince them to buy something.

He doesn't want to give anyone much trouble so he's quick to make his get-away out of the store too. The smell of it lingers, though and Ash belatedly realises the lady had sprayed something on the bag to make it smell nice. Not that fun for a surprise, Clair will probably be able to smell what the gift is now without needing to open it.

'Maybe I can ditch this bag…' he thinks but figures she must've also sprayed some on the inside. 'Well, whatever… I'm not even sure when we'll be giving these gifts anyway, so it's fine.'

On his way to the carrousel, the designated meeting spot, he passes a candy store and it does draw his attention. Ash doesn't have a sweet tooth but he does like some of the more sour candies. Just because he didn't get to eat any at home didn't mean he couldn't be sneaky and buy some when he was in another region. He usually had some cash with him too because his mom did check what kind of money he spent and such small amounts getting withdrawn were _always_ risky. Ash didn't know what her problem with candy was, he brushes his teeth twice a day and he's never skipped a day in his life because she had been scaremongering him with cavities and gum-issues.

He's not going to risk buying something only for Lance to throw it away either, so he plays it safe this time and waits to go into the candy store _after_ he meets up with the man again. In the meant time, though, he browses in the window and he sees a set of impressive boxes filled with snacks. There's one with sweet snacks, bitter ones, sour ones and spicy ones. Ash feels like it would be a far more interesting idea to entertain people trying to bet them he could finish one or several of these boxes. They're pretty big and it's not all candy. There's popcorn in the sweet one and chips in the sour and spicy ones.

Besides, next to his luck, his appetite is the worst thing to bet against. His heat tolerance is legendary too if there's one he thinks he won't be able to finish it would be the bitter one but still… it would be way funnier to watch that than the lottery ticket idea. He might still buy it but then again, he's better of asking Lance that too, his mother didn't want him betting either.

"You're already done?"

Ash looks to his side and smiles widely when he sees his uncle, also carrying two big bags.

"Oh, shopping for gifts, yeah, just now. I did want to ask if it was okay if I bought me some candy."

"Of course, you don't need to ask me that, Ash."

"Alright, then I'm going to buy myself some over there."

"Sure, I'll wait here for you."

Ash is chuffed to bits, he's so lucky he's got such a cool uncle, alright. He might be a bit surprised at the boxes but the teen hopes Lance will allow him to explain before getting pissed. _If_ he gets pissed, he's not sure whether the man would mind. Soon enough, he's the proud owner of all four of the boxes and hoh, he's made it a bit harder for himself. He got the worst boxes of all of them, there were grades on how bad it could get and honestly? The spicy one looked like death. The interesting part was that it was all edible for pokémon too and Ash knew perfectly which one of his pokémon had a big enough appetite to accept the treats, plus, he also knew who liked to eat what.

He promises himself that he'll talk to Lance about that too but perhaps later. He can't actually check if he's gotten any positive feedback on his post either anyway but these boxes won't go to waste. He'll do it, whether only a couple of people are interested. His uncle, by the way, is absolutely charmed by his initiative to do something for the charity event for Orre and tells him Clair has done a couple of live-streams in her time and that he can ask her if he can use her computer for it. Ash does ask if he's _really_ okay with it, though, which makes Lance frown at him.

"Was there anything your mother _did_ allow you, Ash?"

"Sure, I could eat whenever I wanted, watch whatever show I wanted to. I could stay up as late as I wanted."

"Are you sure you're not saying that you could eat whatever your mother made something whenever, watch whatever show there was on child control settings and that you could stay up as late as you wanted as long as you didn't disturb her?"

Ash looked at the floor.

"Buddy, I've been to the house and I've taken the TV with me. It's in your room, remember? I had to reset the settings a bit and I noticed the child control. And you're way to sneaky, I can't even hear you go to the bathroom."

Well, with Clair stomping all over the place, it was hardly a miracle his uncle wasn't used to someone minding to be silent whenever they went somewhere. She wasn't living in the same house but she came over often enough and occasionally stayed for a couple of days.

"I'm sorry?" he offers.

"It's nothing to be sorry about, Ash. Your mother just has a lot to answer for, that's all."

"… So it's all her behaviour that's weird? It's not me?"

"It's never been you, buddy."

It's reassuring, it feels like he's found himself a person who does indeed like him… but people have other opinions on Lance too. And he's still scared that his uncle is that traumatized by his trip to Orre. He somehow only finds the courage to talk to the man about it when he's sitting in the car, in the back, keeping his precious purchases safe from falling.

"Hey, Lance?"

"Yes?"

"Brandon told me you went to Orre."

The following silence didn't bode much good but Ash steeled himself.

"Was it bad?" he asks.

"Yes," his uncle answers. "Yes, it was very bad. I hope Brandon explained why they were asked to come along too."

"He said he didn't understand why Scott stopped them from going on a safe expedition there, that he would have liked to come along to document things. He told me nothing else."

" _Safe_!?" the man chokes. "Do they honestly think some of the most powerful trainers with legendary pokémon at their disposal were asked to come along because it was _safe_?!"

"I don't think he knew any better."

"As per usual," Lance says and he sounds terribly sour about it. "Ash, I appreciate your worry but there's not much you can do to comfort me or anyone about what happened in Orre. Just… know I couldn't care less about what is wrong with Scott right now."

"You don't mean that. You do care, you just think it's karma."

"… Remind me later to never try and lie to you again."

Ash feels bad now so he stays silent throughout the rest of the drive. His uncle doesn't say anything either but the teen feels like he's just burned an important bridge. Was the man _really_ sure it wasn't _him_ who had driven his mother to become the hellion she was today? What would stop him from turning Lance into the same mess of a human being? He knows his uncle isn't mad at him but that doesn't mean he's not done something wrong. He vows to himself never to talk about Shadow pokémon again… even though his morbid curiosity was still there. Maybe he can try and research the matter on his own, that way he doesn't need to bother anyone about it and ruin their day with his questioning.

Clair is at the house and cheerfully tells them that Cynthia will be joining them for New Years, as well as a couple of others Ash was too tired to remember. Neither adult had any qualms that he would take a nap and being the awkward one, he took his presents to his room with him. He'd ask them when they were planning to give these gifts later but for now, he would like to lament on his own, with the comfort of his purring Pikachu, Gible at his stomach, nice and warm and Gliscor snuggled against his back. _The_ best position to forget whatever stupidity he had done today and so he drifted off… but not far enough to miss the fact that Lance came to check up on him. And that Clair had followed him.

"Is something wrong?" she whispers.

"I'm not sure. He… he asked about Orre. I'm not sure if I said something wrong," Lance answered softly. "He fell silent halfway the drive, so I thought… I did something wrong but then he came back here and he acted normal. I'm not sure at all if he's okay, Clair."

"Why? He seems fine to me?"

"The things he keeps saying about Delia, Clair, she didn't even allow him to by candy. He waited to buy any until he had my approval."

"It's not really the end of the world and he's not suffering either, Lance. I get that you want Delia to own up to what she's done but she's not ever going to do that. We've both met her old man, if she's got his character, we're just wasting our breath."

"It's still sad. He might be suffering but it's holding him back. I know it does."

"Well, then we just got to make sure he gets the necessary support he needs to get over all Delia's ill teachings. Me and you, you and me, the four of us, we'll get the job done."

"Don't be silly," the man whispers but he manages a quit little laugh anyway. "But yeah, I guess so. Do you think that's why Cynthia's suddenly joined a party we've been hosting for years while she's declined the invitation every single year consecutively up until this one?"

"Did they meet today?"

"They did."

"Yeah, then we can be absolutely sure she's joined because of Ash. But he'll still be here until New Year's Day, right? The trainer doesn't start again until the end of January if I remember correctly."

"Unless he doesn't agree with the regulations of the pokémon league. Which he'll have to agree with, or he won't be able to leave."

"Do you want me there when you walk him through them? I know it's a lot and that you can't find much humour in it."

"Can you?"

"Always. Now, come on, I'm going to make your favourite dish."

"I have a favourite dish? That you can make?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten about my 'Berry surprise', now?"

"I have, unfortunately. What's the surprise?"

"That there are berries in it," she says softly but happily. "Come on, let me remind you of the greatness you've somehow forgotten about."

Ash is kind of glad they move away from the door because he really does want to sleep and he can't do that when he hears people whispering. Especially not when they're whispering about him. He doesn't think anything's wrong with him, there's just a whole lot of things he's confused about and a lot of other things he doesn't _know_ about himself yet. He's got time, though and yes, he's gotten the hint. Ash knows why Brandon kept giving him that intense look, he knows it's because apparently, neither Brandon nor Riley have ever seen an Aura pool as large as his, meaning that Riley, who is already ageing slower than an ordinary human, has one he can see the limits of. He's not going to guess that he's immortal, there will always be ways in which he will be able to perish, he knows that every power has a weakness. But what he does know, is that he's going to be here for a very, _very_ long time. And on that note, he goes to sleep with tears pricking in his eyes and he vows to himself, very silently, that he'll contact his friends as soon as he has the opportunity.

* * *

Lance is on Ash's list of victims to bother on this early Christmas morning. Yesterday, he's learned that gifts are given on the morning of Christmas and it doesn't matter to the boy that it's only four in the morning. His uncle had been restless all night and morning so far so Ash, who had initially put his gifts for his recently found family under the Christmas tree, goes to retrieve the one he has for Lance and sneaks back upstairs. It's very cold, has been since yesterday evening and the teen has firm suspicions that it is either snowing or has snowed because it's very silent outside. So, the best time to use this blanket was yesterday but the second best is today. He does knock before he enters his uncle's room, though, just to make sure he's decent. Not that it's the kind of weather to sleep in your birthday suit but he's not taking his chances.

"Hng?" Lance groans as he straightens a bit. "Ash? What's the matter?"

"Merry Christmas, uncle Lance," the boy says softly and closes the door behind him. "I wanted to give you your present."

"Now? What time is it?"

"Four in the morning."

"You should be in bed, kiddo."

"Please?"

Lance sighs in resignation but pats on the bed.

"Alright then, come here."

Ash crawls on the bed carefully, he's strapped his prosthesis on a bit awkwardly this morning and he doesn't want to snag on anything, he's not wearing slippers and he's got no idea what his prosthetic foot is up to. Besides, his gift is big and a bit on the heavy side.

"What on earth is that?" the man asks, still looking a bit sleepy.

There isn't much light in the room, other than the nightlight his uncle has lit under his desk at the other side of the room but it's enough for Ash to smile at how dishevelled Lance looks.

"here, open it," he answers eagerly, shoving the gift a bit closer to the man.

Once the blanket emerges out of the gift wrapping, Ash feels like his uncle is a bit peeved.

"It's made of plastic beads," he says helpfully. "The man told me you can even put it outside to air out, get all the dust out of it."

"It's huge."

"And warm."

Lance does lay it over him and even though the teen feels like there's a chance the man might shove it off him as soon as he's out of the door, he does notices that his uncle somehow got a lot more silent. In fact… Ash thinks he's asleep already. He doesn't take his chances, he tries not to make too much sound when he gathers the wrapping paper -which is the kind of loud kind- and makes his escape from the room.

He's pleased as punch when he hears a soft snore come from under the blanket and so he quietly closes the door behind him, though he nearly bumps in Clair, who gives him a weird look. Ash guesses she must've been on the way back to her room after having gone to the bathroom but she probably heard them talking. Sleepy Lance is not very subtle, after all.

"Merry Christmas, Clair," he whispers.

"… A very _early_ Merry Christmas to you too," she responds, equally hushed. "What are you doing?"

"Getting some use out of the gift I had for him," Ash says and he knows better than to say his uncle's name in front of his bedroom door because it _will_ wake him up. Don't ask him how the man does it but he's seen it happen before.

"What was it?"

"A blanket."

"And he's asleep now? Under it?" she asks, giving him a bewildered look which looks a bit funny now as she's looking a bit dishevelled too.

"Yup."

"Good lord, it's a Christmas miracle," Clair mutters.

"Let's leave him at it. I have a feeling he's not slept well for a while now."

"Not since Orre, no. Thank you, Ash."

"No problem," he answers happily, though he doesn't mind on how she stops herself from touching him. "I'm going back to bed now, if you don't mind?"

"Not at all. I'll see you in a couple of hours."

Ash nods and darts off to his room. He's cold too now, they don't have heating in the house, just like his home didn't. Another case of acceptation of discomfort, he figures but it makes going back to bed a _fantastic_ experience, especially since he's got his personal bed heaters keeping it warm for him. So when he gets back to his bedroom, he throws the crinkly paper into a corner with the idea that he'll deal with it later, unstraps his prosthesis and crawls back into bed. His pokémon do whine a bit because he's cold and invading personal space but then again, it's _his_ bed they are invading so they know better than to argue with him. Gible lets out an unhappy snort when his cold foot makes contact with him and quickly shifts away, back against Ash's stomach.

Pikachu wriggles away from his cold hands too, in fact, Gliscor is the only one who just golds back over him as if he's never even left the bed. Ash shivers for a moment before accepting the growing warmth surrounding him. The large pokémon at his back feels his initial discomfort and pushes his large head against the boy's neck, purring _loudly_.

"I love you too, buddy," Ash whispers as he can't help the smile that appears on his face.

Gosh, it's so nice and warm. Instead of getting a blanket, Lance could have just as well taken a couple of his pokémon in bed. Dragons are suckers for warmth too… but then again, they're usually pretty heavy, the boy figures that Gible won't be able to fit in his bed when he evolves one day, _if_ he wants to. And if Lance was so scared of these Shadow pokémon, it perhaps was better if he didn't have anything other than himself in bed. Ash doesn't understand why, though, he would recognise his own pokémon anywhere, everywhere, in the dark, under someone else's control, whatever. But then again, he's special, isn't he?

'Poor Lance,' he thinks as he slowly succumbs to sleep. 'I hope this will help at all.'


	13. The First Part of the Holidays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So pleased to publish another chapter on the schedule I had in mind :3  
> I had lots of fun writing this one too, so I hope you all enjoy it reading this chapter as much as I did writing it.

The teen is bewildered when he comes down the stairs. It's still a bit early but ever since he's been admitted to the hospital, he can't stay in bed after seven in the morning. Besides, looking at the colourful holographic red and white tinsel draped around the bannister, it's clear someone's awake already. It's highly likely to be Clair, he didn't hear Lance's door open and he's been awake for half an hour already. He's just taken a shower and he's quite proud that he's getting good at taking showers on his own too, next to being immensely thankful that Lance thought about installing a seat and adding a bar at the side, so he can pull himself up without needing to call for assistance.

"Whoa…" he utters when he sees the living room.

It's like it's gotten dipped in a tub of pure Christmas, there's tinsel _everywhere_ and Ash _loves_ it. It's all red and white theme and it's so sparkly and bright, it makes him feel all fuzzy and nice. He eventually spots Clair in the kitchen and by the smell, he knows she's doing something wicked in there. It's smell sweet and minty, just like a candy cane.

"Good morning," he says, announcing his arrival in the kitchen.

"Oh, good morning," Clair greets back and her smile couldn't possibly get any bigger. "How are you doing on this fine Christmas morning?"

"Amazing, I've never seen so much tinsel in a day!"

"I'm glad you like it, it's always so much work but it pays off. Cheers the whole room up."

Then again, it seems like the kitchen wasn't safe from her decorating, the tinsel made it up in here too. Some colourful baubles are dangling from the ceiling too.

"What are you doing?"

"Making candy cane flavoured toppings from those," she says and points at the muffins at the side.

"Oh, wow, that's going to be amazing."

"I figured I might as well give you a good introduction to Christmas. Though I'm keeping the door closed today, there's no need to go outside and lure carollers inside."

Oh, no… _carollers_ … Ash doesn't know much about Christmas but the Pallet carollers are famous for their 'concerts'. It all sounds like yowling Meowth to him and he knows that none of these ladies were hearing themselves or they would have shut up a long time ago. But they didn't and alas, there were a couple of his mother's friends in the group so of course, she invited them in. He's pretty sure he's never truly been interested in Christmas because of the _hours_ he was forced to listen to the 'carolling'. He insanely happy Clair shares his dislike for it and there's no way he's going to speak up against her, not when she's absolutely right.

"I've found some cute cereals in the supermarket today," she says as if she can feel his mood drop. "They're in the cabinet right there."

He's curious, he's only been here for two weeks now and this is basically the first time his aunt bought something for him. Ash knows he's kind of easy to feed, he knows what he doesn't like -not an awful lot, mind you- and he makes sure to tell everyone asking about those things. Like pickles, for example. The boy can't help but smile when he sees the pink and blue box, it's cereal in the shape of small pokémon.

"This _is_ cute," he chuckles. "What are these pokémon?"

"Swirlix," Clair answers. "They're Kalos pokémon, I believe."

'Awesome,' Ash thinks and happily goes back to the table, to open the box.

An incredibly sugary scent wafts out of it as soon as he opens it. Pikachu's nose twitches in response, though it's likely to just be curiosity. Ash knows that his buddy doesn't have a sweet tooth but there's this thing where pokémon will try _anything_ their trainer eats. And ever since his accident, that's exactly what's happened with every meal he's taken in the hospital. Not that those were so spectacular but still… He checks the box of cereal for any information on whether it's safe for pokémon to eat or not -it is-, before handing a single Swirlix cereal to Pikachu.

"Here, you can be my taste-tester," he says.

The pokémon nibbles on it and it must taste good at first but then Pikachu sneezes. A sign that it's going to be _incredibly_ sweet.

"Not good?" Clair asks.

"Oh, I think it'll be okay, it's just, he's a spicy little guy, that's all," he chuckles as he pats Pikachu's head. "I'll see if I don't have some of these hot Pokéblocks lying around for you later."

"Chu."

This cereal was _definitely_ one of those cavity demons his mother had been talking about but he feels good. He likes that Clair's habits go directly against what he's learnt, it's fresh to hear that you don't have to live like a saint to live at all. He wonders what it would have been like if his mother hadn't been like that… then again, there's only so long you can stay innocent while living in a town like Pallet. Though Ash knows damn well that none of his mom's issues have anything to do with his hometown. The fact her bubble burst when Red returned meant that she had such great fantasies about his return that she completely collapsed when the reality proved to be anything about ideal. Ash knows it's only got a little to do with him but he can't force himself to forget how it had all gone to hell. He was right there, after all.

"Ash?"

He jerks, nearly throwing the spoon across the room. Thankfully, Clair's right there and stops his arm.

"You okay?" she asks carefully.

"Sorry, I was euhm… thinking."

"Can I help?" she offers. "What was it about?"

"… You being really chill in comparison to my mom? I mean, you're _already_ helping a bunch."

Clair gives him an incredulous stare.

"People tell me I'm no good with kids, though."

"They're wrong."

Her face cracks open in a wicked smile and a little laugh escapes her.

"I love how you sound so certain about it. Even though you actually don't know me or Lance that well."

"You've not hurt me yet, though."

"… Ash, I think you've just set the bar so low people might trip over it. If that's your only point to make, that we haven't hurt you yet, that's not… that much work. It also doesn't make us out as the greatest of people either."

"No?"

"No, not at all."

"… Is there something wrong with me, then? Even though I know if you're lying to me or not? That I can feel if you're angry at me or not?"

"Oh, you do?"

"I do."

"Well, _alright_ , so you can tell if we'll abuse you or not. Still, Ash, that's not that great, does Lance know about this?"

"He does. I think everyone I've talked to knows now, everyone except you."

"I'm always the last one to know about things anyway, I'm not bothered," she shrugs. "Nevertheless, talk to us if something's bothering you, okay? I know you care a lot about us and I've noticed Lance has caught your eye. Yesterday, that attempt to get him to talk about Orre… You were trying to help him, weren't you?"

"I'm not sure if I can help," Ash admits. "I was just… trying to understand, I guess. What it was like. I didn't know it was such a touchy feeling, I had a hunch because Lance is still so angry at Scott but I didn't know he would close down like that, become so upset like that. Brandon told me it was supposed to be a safe and secure mission, I didn't know any better. I just figured later on that Scott must have been lying to everyone all along."

"He has and it has upset a whole lot of people. Be careful who you approach with your questions, Ash. Just because someone is nice to you doesn't mean you're entitled to question them."

"No, I… I'm sorry, Clair. I promise I won't mention it again."

"I'm just trying to warn you, Ash, you're free to talk about anything to us."

'Yeah, just not the things that fascinate me,' he thinks and he knows he's sounding sour but what is he supposed to do when he's told off for having talked about the thing he _wanted_ to talk about? And then she tells him it's okay nonetheless? He's a fool in many ways but not that one that big to make the same mistake twice. He's just going to have to find someone who knows what they're talking about without being scared about it and he already knows it won't be easy, as it can't be anyone Lance or Clair know. He'll do it, though, it doesn't matter how long it'll take him, he'll find out what he wants to know.

Nothing's ever easy, though. As he's sitting there, brooding on his plan on how he could actually _find_ this person he's relying on to tell him all about strange pokémon, Clair, of course, assumes he's being so silent because she's just told him off. She gives him a playful nudge and while it does snap Ash from his reverie, he frowns because the jab kind of hurts.

"What did you do that for?" he thinks, figuring she mustn't be _that_ thankful that he got Lance to sleep well if she's already hurting him without good reason.

"You were making weird faces."

'I did?' he wonders as his hands go for his face.

It didn't feel like he was making weird faces, in fact, he feels like she's just lied to him. _Now_ he makes a weird face because he doesn't like the feeling. He does trust both Clair and Lance but this morning was proving to be a test for his trust. He would much rather have her leaving him alone for now but instead, she comes to sit right next to him. She's talking about something he doesn't understand, how is he supposed to know how the pokémon league's affairs work anyway? Or is she just trying to keep him from thinking? If so, it's not working, he's already well on his way of droning it out until she mentions something he _knows_ will affect him. He's heard Lance say something about regulations from the pokémon league, after all.

"- he's not finding it easy to breach the subject with you, though."

"Why not? I've never told anyone off for saying anything to me," he says, the statement flying out of his mouth before he realises what he's said. "Sorry," he adds, even though he knows he's going to get it now.

"I know, that's what I've been telling him too," Clair says, continuing as if he's not given a snide comment at all. "You know it's not going to get any easier, right? Or are you still willing to sleep in a tent?"

"Sure, why not? I'll have pokémon out, no matter what."

"You had pokémon with you that time too, though."

"I was inside a house too, so what point are you trying to make, Clair?" he asks. "I'm not going to be safer in a hotel room or a pokémon centre. I'll be safe if I've got other people and pokémon with me."

"You are entitled to have someone trained to help you accompany you, you know?"

"You're joking."

"Nope, not at all. It would even be in your best interest to have someone with medical knowledge accompany you."

"I'll think about it."

Judging from Clair's sigh, he can tell she knows he won't ever consider it. Honestly, he attracts so much trouble, the pokémon league doesn't have enough money to pay the poor soul they're forcing to come with him, to repay them for everything that'll happen. Ash's pretty sure he'll have to hear 'I'm not getting paid enough for this' an awful lot of time if he were to accept it and if he can save himself from that kind of stereotype situation, he _will_.

The cereal gets a bit better when it's been soaking in the milk -almond, he's still lactose intolerant, they all learned that the hard way- but now the milk's become awfully sweet. Nevertheless, he finishes it, rinses out the bowl and saunters out of the room, figuring Clair was best off on her own right now. Like him, actually but it's good he's come out of the kitchen when he has, Gible has somehow made his way down the stairs and is checking out what tinsel he can possibly reach.

"Gible, _no_ ," he says when the little dragon reaches out to grab some of the glittery plastic. "It's disgusting."

How the pokémon assumes he knows what tinsel tastes like is beyond him but Ash is already glad he's been able to stop Gible from destroying Clair's handiwork. He takes the little dragon in his arms and goes to sit on the couch. As he sits there, he's a bit lost on what to do, like, he can sit here and be silent but is that really what people are supposed to do on Christmas? Then again, having a bit of an argument with your family probably wasn't something people did often during Christmas but how was he supposed to know that Clair has such a nasty surprise ready for him? He knows better now, he won't breach any kind of touchy subject with either her or Lance, they're clearly more sensitive and maybe it was just an adult thing, that no one wanted to talk to a kid or listen to their rambling.

He suddenly hears a strange, snort-like noise and when he looks in the direction he's heard it come from, he sees Dialga's head poke out of the floor. Ash grins, even though he knows the pokémon's head is poking through a portal, it's still a funny sight. He does turn to look at the kitchen door because it's slightly open and the last thing he wants is for Clair to turn around and see Dialga. No adult he's met so far has reacted positively to him being a legendary pokémon magnet either, so he's not taking his chances.

However, as the boy turns back to look at Dialga, the pokémon seems to have vanished. The way Pikachu suddenly jolts off the couch tells him somethings up, though. And yes, as he moves the pillow his starter pokémon had been leaning on, he spots a much tinier Dialga head behind. Ash chuckles because somehow, the pokémon looks amused but the moment he looks away, the head is gone. Again. Another snort makes the teen look at where he's heard it coming from and he smiles widely when he sees the head poke out of the stairs. When he gets there, though, Dialga is gone. And now the snort comes from much deeper into the house.

'Better tell Clair I'm going up,' he thinks and goes to do just that.

"Oh, alright. Be careful not to go into the den at this hour."

"'Kay," he says and goes up the stairs, determined to find the Dialga again.

Clair, in the meantime, has finished her preparations for their Christmas meals and has already gone ahead and phoned the caterer they had called in for the extra food. She's a good cook but only when it comes to basic stuff. It's Lance's experience with her Christmas' dinner that made him hire a caterer in the first place. She's not at all bothered by it but she finds it a bit odd that her nephew -the older one- isn't down yet. So when she's basically done with preparing the food, Clair goes up the stairs, towards Lance's room. It's almost eleven in the morning now, she did leave him to sleep that long because she knows the man could use it but still, there are limits. And she knows he will get mad if she lets him sleep through Christmas.

"Wakey-wakey, then!" she says in a sing-song tone as she goes to open the curtains.

A silent 'what the fuck?' comes from the bed but honestly, Clair couldn't care less.

"It's almost time for Christmas lunch, buddy," she adds sunnily. "Thought you were really looking forward to it-"

This time, a very heartily meant and loud 'fuck' comes out of the bed but it left the Gym Leader to admire the blanket Ash had given Lance earlier this morning. It's a nice one, she decides and it's not until she checks the tag that she realises why Lance never wanted any of her blankets.

'Kid must really have one heck of an ability to know about that in two weeks,' she thinks, as she trudges down the stairs, hearing the man hurry through his morning ritual in the bathroom. 'It's handy, though it's going to be hard to make him happy if everyone around him keeps lying their asses off.'

With that idea in mind, she goes back down, to wait until the caterer arrives. Though she doesn't miss the sounds of delight coming from the boy's room, making her remember that Ash is just still a child after all. That there's no reason why she should be tip-toeing around him _or_ that she should let other people influence her. This _is_ his first Christmas celebration anyway, so they better make it count.

* * *

Lance almost curses himself. Because today, of all the days, he slept in -despite not having slept well in the past five months- they needed to wait to give the teen his gifts just because the caterer would arrive with _quite_ a bit of food and heck, it was always a mess, had been every Christmas and now that he had ordered a bit extra for Ash, it would be no different. Nevertheless, the teen seemed able to amuse himself on his own, in fact, he didn't see the kid until one in the afternoon, after Clair had called him to come down and eat.

Another thing why Lance was so focussed on the food, he was hungry as heck. He had skipped on getting any breakfast because it was already so late. Nevertheless, it all looks nice and warm so as soon as the boy comes down, he's pretty quick to sit down and try to keep himself from scarfing most of it down. It takes a while for him to notice how Ash is playing with his food, he's made a little Jenga tower from his berry and potato fries. He's eating it, yeah but Lance never noticed the boy doing this. He's making no effort on contributing to whatever small-talk is happening, though he seems happy enough. It's very strange and seeing how Clair is watching him so closely… yep, he's pretty sure something's happened.

"I tried to breach the subject of the pokémon league regulations," Clair speaks up all of a sudden as if she knew he had questions.

"I see it went well," he comments.

"He needs to know."

" _He_ is sitting at the table."

Ash is now looking at the two of them warily, Lance smiles at him to assure him there's nothing wrong. It only has a bit of effect, the smile he gets in returns is more a grimace but it's a response nonetheless.

"How do you feel about it, Ash?" Lance asks, determine to make this a positive matter. Even if it's got all signs of going to hell all the same.

"If I need to put someone through hell with me to leave on a journey, I'll never set foot out of Johto ever again."

The answer is clear as day but the man is confused.

"I wasn't aware they would offer an assistant to go along with him?" he asks but Clair nods.

"It's in there, they can."

"They won't."

She gives him an incredulous look.

"How are you so sure?"

"Ash's just told you how he feels about it, they'll listen to him, Clair. If he says no, they won't offer again. They're not pushy and they're not there to make trainers miserable. Besides, what good would it do to force him to take that trainer regulation if it means he'll quit being a trainer? Seems a bit contra-productive to me."

"It'd be good for him, though," she murmurs.

Lance would beg to differ, there had been no humour whatsoever in the boy's statement and surely Clair isn't that blind to notice how withdrawn he's suddenly become. He _knows_ the kid, Ash is eager to talk, all he's ever gotten were words, after all. He can truly imagine that some of the boy's birthday's consisted of just a 'happy birthday' from his friends, not a single gift in sight. So the fact he's not engaging in the conversation unless asked is a sign he's not happy.

"We'll tackle the regulations when the time's right," he says, trying to defuse the situation. "It's Christmas, after all."

"Sure."

He's not sure what he can do to make Clair any happier now that he's basically told her to shut up about it but _hell_ , surely she knows a couple of better subjects to talk about today? She really doesn't need to act like the pokémon league is out to restrict Ash in a way that'll leave him all tied up in rules. Sure, there's a bit of paperwork but it's there so they know what Ash's needs are. And there's no way Lance is filling out that questionnaire without the kid right there with him. Ash isn't at an age where he can be ignored and he thinks he can trust the boy to speak up in his defence when push comes to shove. He's not a coward, after all.

Nevertheless, he doesn't mind the silence if it means they'll finish all the food they got. By now, Ash's finished his second Jenga tower and Clair is well on her way to clean her plate as well so it's all good.

Or is it?

"Why did you refer to your journey as hell, Ash?" Clair asks.

"Maybe you would be best off asking dr. Knight about my hospital stay and how enjoyable it was for everyone."

"… You mean, your abilities?"

"No," the teen says. "Not the abilities."

Lance and Clair turn to look at each other and _boy_ , he's sure going to ask the therapist about it next time. It's got nothing to do with medical secrecy either but it's still concerning. However, the man gets an inkling of what Ash means soon enough. After he's herded his niece and nephew into the living room, to watch a corny movie while he's checking up on his pokémon, he sees a strange shape in the unlit end of the hallway. He flicks on the light and it's gone so Lance frowns and flicks the light off. The strange shape is there again and it reminds him of a man who's standing there, shoulders high and hunched… Another flick of the light reveals there's really _nothing_ there but when he dims the light again, it's suddenly standing a whole lot closer to him.

"Hell no," he says, turns his back on the unlit hallway and stalks straight into his pokémon's den.

If that creepy thing wanted to follow him in there, they're free to do so but at their own risk. Seeing how his dragons are looking at him, all on edge, tells him that it might exactly be doing that. He's not keen on it but something seems to be happening back there that's gotten Gabite and Salamance looking up in interest. And that's when he hears Ash's voice.

"What are you doing here?" the boy asks, a certain softness to his voice Lance knows he only uses on pokémon. "Did you want to play? That… You shouldn't do it with my uncle, buddy. It's okay, look, I'll show you the way to my room."

The loudest of footsteps _stomp_ behind Ash's much softer ones and every single hair on the man's body is standing on edge because _what. the. hell_? _Can_ he even talk to the boy about it? What are the chances that he'll even answer truthfully, no, no… scratch that. His nephew is the most honest kid he's ever met, he'll answer with the brutal truth and it'll leave him shaking and scared of living in his own damn house. No, he's just going to have to be strong and brave like the Champion he is and face this head-on, for his _and_ Ash's sake. Besides, the kid's a miracle with pokémon… But it that _thing_ in the hallway was a pokémon, he was curious to know which one.

'Arceus, help me in this quest, I'm going to need all the help I can get with this one,' he thinks.

He's already off to a good start, none of his dragons bite his hand while he's giving them their Christmas treat so after he draws it out for as long as he possibly can, he walks back out. But not without checking the hallway for a strange figure. There's nothing there, though so Lance lets out a big sigh and goes back to the living room, hoping he'll find Ash there. He does.

"Did you euhm… see something back there?" the teen asks softly, as soon as the man sits down next to him.

"I did. What was it?"

"Do you… believe in aliens?"

"Maaaybe?" he answers, drawing the word out because he's got no idea aliens actually existed but now that his nephew brings it up, there was probably an alien in his hallway a couple of seconds ago. Fuck him.

"I mean, space pokémon."

"There are pokémon in space?"

"Mm," the boy says and bobs his head once. "There are. One came down, it wanted to play. It just… doesn't have any eyes. It thought you were me until it met me."

"Play…" Lance repeats. "Being all spooky in a hallway is playing to the… alien pokémon?"

"Peekaboo."

'Dear God,' he thinks to himself and he steels himself to keep his face straight.

"An alien was playing peekaboo with me," he repeats.

"Yeah. It would have apologized but I told it to forget about it, I don't think you would've… like the way it apologises. I don't even think it knows _how_ to anyway. Deoxys doesn't meet people or other pokémon often."

"And it's in the house?"

"Yeah, do you want to-"

"No."

"Oh," Ash says, sounding a bit dejected. "Can I go upstairs? To play with it for a bit?"

"… Sure. Christmas is about enjoying yourself with family and friends, isn't it?" he says, even though he has a bit of trouble seeing how you can befriend an alien.

Apparently, his nephew somehow managed, though he's going to have a look at who this 'Deoxys' is because he's not totally sure if he trusts the situation. His phone is burning a hole in his pocket but he knows he's going to panic if he takes a look now. Lance is getting so nervous he actually takes his phone out of his pocket and lays it somewhere he can't see it.

"What's gotten you all worked up, then?" Clair asks, plopping down in the seat Ash previously sat in.

"Do I look worked up?"

"You never put your phone to the side otherwise."

"Oh… Ash is playing with an alien in his room. Upstairs."

"I know where his room is, Lance," she says dryly. "What do you mean, an alien?"

"It's called Deoxys. Have you ever heard of a-" he stops talking when he sees her face change. "What?"

"Deoxys," she repeats. "Is that what he said?"

"Yeah."

"… Alright. Okay. It's come here?"

"Yeah, it was playing… peekaboo," he says lamely. "In the hallway," he adds.

"Do you think that's what he meant? With hell?"

"I know how _I_ feel about it just being in the house, yes."

Somehow, he's glad that the alien pokémon showed up, though it's got everything to do with the fact Ash handed Clair her opinion back. He's pretty sure the kid had no idea what the pokémon was up to, though or that it would have come here today. Nevertheless, that alien better make sure it treated his nephew alright or else it would have something coming. His dragon pokémon had looked all too happy to have a go at it, after all.

* * *

Ash is _elated_ when he comes back down the stairs. He never imagined Deoxys to be funny but it's just so awkward that whatever it does becomes funny. Its behaviour reminds him of how Gliscor looks so pleasantly confused about everything but at least Deoxys didn't get in his face. What was kind of sad was how confused it was on how his uncle had turned away with it. It's a lot more sensitive than he would have imagined it being, seeing it didn't meet people too often. The teen is pleased to bits, though and he's more than willing to meet the pokémon again. What he wasn't sure of, was whether his uncle wanted that as much as he did.

He didn't get a chance to talk about it, Clair was saying something on how they were already behind schedule -he didn't even know there was a timetable for what was supposed to be happening on Christmas day itself- and that they needed to open the presents now. She looks frantic but judging from how calm both he and Lance are, Ash figures she's the only one who forgot about the presents. The movie had completely drawn her in too, or so it seems.

"Ah, did you like the blanket?" he asks, beaming at Lance, who smiles at him.

"I do. It's… very warm. I might have overslept because of it."

"It's okay, if so, you must've been really tired, so it's okay for you to sleep. It's a sign you need it."

"What I want to know is why you never told me you couldn't stand the type of fleeces I bought you," Clair says and the way the man tenses tells Ash enough.

"I-It's not a fleece, though," he wheedles. "The man said something about it being a… gosh, what was it called again? Something with a 'p'…"

"Plaid?"

"Yes! Yes, that's what he told me it was, yeah," Ash nods.

"We… used fleeces on… missions," Lance mutters as he keeps his eyes fixed on the carpet.

The teen feels his heart sink, he actually feels his heartbeat at the tip of his toes. He had _no_ idea it had anything to do with Orre at all!

"I-I thought it was because of allergies," he utters lamely, feeling completely helpless as he turns to look at Clair, who looks like she's ready to cry.

"So did I," she says and swallows hard. "Lance, why didn't you ever told me?"

"I couldn't," the man answers softly. "I couldn't…"

"It's okay, we all have something we don't want to talk about," Ash chirps, desperate to change the subject. "All I want you to remember is that this blanket is yours and that I wish you many, _many_ dreamless nights under it."

"I hope so," Lance says. "I'll think about you, then instead."

"… If that helps you out, sure, go ahead. I'll happily punch some sleep demons in the face for you."

"You really are the only one I can imagine being willing to do that."

The man is chuckling again and it makes Ash feel less on edge. He doesn't like him all tense, it makes him feel like he's not safe here either and that could have disastrous consequences, knowing him and his abilities. The boy is happy when they all focus on the gifts, at least he knows that it's a nice feeling to get something from another person, it makes you feel remembered and appreciated. And Clair is surprised to find his gift for her _still_ smelling deliciously sweet but she's insanely happy that somehow, he's gotten the name of her favourite product right in the short while he's been here.

Then again, the gifts he gets from both Clair and Lance will keep him busy for a while, it's a tablet _and_ a phone, in one package. He understands they had gotten one gift for him together, this must've been insanely expensive… His mother had never wanted to buy him any electronics beyond a transceiver, she always told him he doesn't know how to care for it. But these devices come with sturdy cases and screen protectors. If these get broken inside his backpack, there is a big chance he won't be there to tell the tale either but then again, his mother's priorities were never about him or his safety. Also, he likes how it's rose gold as if Lance had no idea what colour to get but knew _what_ he wanted to get, meaning he had been thinking about it for a while.

'Oh, wow,' he thinks when the smartphone's screen lights up for the first time.

It's _huge_ compared to the tiny screen of his transceiver and the quality is way better too. He wonders if the resin videos will look even better now… Though he can't help but feel like his friends might have been trying to talk to him. It's been two weeks now, which is a long while to be ignored. And neither Brock nor Misty has been told he was going home, they hadn't come 'round ever since he had been rude to Gary. He gets it, they're busy, they're a bit older than him and he's always felt like he forced them to shove their normal life and routines to the side whenever he came by.

Surprisingly, he does find a couple of messages on the group chat but they don't sound aggressive or mean at all. Instead, Iris asks him if he's sure he wants to try his luck out on something as fickle as a lottery and suggest he finds something a bit more 'exiting' if he still wants to do something for Orre. Ash _does_ want to do it, he's got his candy boxes already and Clair appears to be thankful enough to allow him a few hours behind her computer. If only to help the region become something else that his uncle remembers. He feels like that's the only thing that will be able to save Lance from the trauma he caught back there, a nightmare is just a nightmare when you're faced with a completely different reality than the one you've seen in the dream, right?

It's not something he can do on his own so Ash gingerly goes back to the page he had posed that question… and stops, because he's got sixteen million likes and over half of the comments give him the same advice as Iris. So, with his tongue sticking out of his mouth, he types another message introducing his candy boxes and barely a minute after he posts it, likes pour in, people saying it's a great idea and that they're more than willing to donate and stuff like that. Ash didn't think he would get this much traction but also, he doesn't remember having that many followers. He blinks when he notices he doesn't, it's just that there's an awful lot of people who are seemingly looking at his posts. Then again, Ash isn't that good at technology, he's never been taught how to properly use it beyond the things that seem logical and the things he's learned himself. Maybe it was another update or something that somehow is responsible for the fact the whole world is seeing his posts.

"Are you happy?" Clair asks and Ash nods vigorously.

"Absolutely! It's so easy to use to, this phone is way better than my transceiver."

"It's designed to be that way," Lance answers with a smile. "It's a newer model from the pokémon League, it'll be able to work with every other device they've produced and it'll be kept up-to-date for at least ten years so it'll be able to work with newer models produced after this."

"Wicked," the teen says, chuffed to bits with his gifts. Though he's going to read the manual of the tablet _before_ even attempting on activating it. It looks thin and fragile and he's glad that he's got a case to make sure nothing happens to it.

He spends most of the day reading through the manual and he remembers someone having told him he should never trust a device if the manual is bigger than the device but in this case, Ash does trust it because it's not hard to be bigger than the tablet. It's not even the size of regular printer paper. The usage of the tablet sounds complicated too so he makes sure to read it all… hence why it takes so long.

* * *

The day Ash has his first appointment with dr. Knight is also the day where Lance storms around the house, cursing loudly. There seems to have been an incident at the pokémon league and it seemingly requires both his uncle and Clair to be there. Meaning he'll be left on his own. By now, the two adults know he can be trusted not to go anywhere, he's able to enjoy himself with games on the tablet and his attention get sucked in so badly, Clair had needed to clap her hands right next to him to get his attention and that just happened yesterday. No, they trust him alright, it's just the fact that Lance had things planned and so did his niece because they have been promised an entire week of leave, between Christmas and New Year's Day. Ash knows his uncle doesn't handle sudden changes to a schedule very well, just because he had been playing with Dialga in his room, doesn't mean he missed the loud 'fuck' coming from the man's room when he discovered he had overslept on Christmas morning.

At least it was still morning, the boy remembers having overslept so late the day his journey began, it had been _noon_. At least he can thank his Aura for not allowing that any longer, there's plenty of foreign sounds keeping him awake too. He'll never forget the first night he spent here, those dragons make a lot of noise, even at night. It even made the teen wonder how professor Oak ever even sleeps, he gets that a couple of pokémon snoring can be bad but none of his pokémon makes that much noise.

"Ash, I'm so sorry," Lance says, still a bit red in the face as he fumbles with his shirt.

"It's okay, I can handle dr. Knight on my own. And I'll have my pokémon out," Ash answers calmly, knowing that, if he doesn't make a big deal out of this, his uncle won't get too upset. "Also, you've got your shirt on inside out."

"Goddammit," the man curses and storms off.

The teen feels like whoever got the bright idea to call these two over to the pokémon league today is going to get it in spades. He knows he's going to be uncomfortable here too, Ash still feels like a guest and he knows it'll at least take an hour for Lance and Clair to get there, so even if they're going to spend fifteen minutes there, it'll already take over two hours for them to get back. Which is a very long time alone in a house you barely know. Maybe he can go on an adventure inside the house, Lance told him he's free to go wherever he wants.

"Be good, okay? We'll be back before you know it," Clair says and she kisses him on his cheeks afterwards.

He knows that she's just saying that to make him feel better, she doesn't know what's going on either and so she can't be sure how long it'll take for them to return. But they've got a job to do and some jobs require to expect the unexpected. Being a pokémon trainer, no matter if they are a regular one, Gym leader, elite trainer or Champion, sometimes required to go above and beyond.

Ash shivers when he sees the two leave and pull the door close behind him but he pulls up his brave face again, just for the sake of his pokémon. They know, though but it's the thought that counts.

"Let's go snoop," he says mischievously, his curiosity and excitement winning from his discomfort at being home alone.

His pokémon are right there with him as he goes to check what's going on behind every door. He doesn't enter Lance's bedroom or Clair's because that's just rude and he'll never disrespect their privacy like that. Besides, he's been allowed in it and there's little that interests him in there. The two are more than a bit minimalistic, Clair hasn't got much stuff in her room because it's a guest room. It's been assigned to her but she doesn't like clutter so there's not much there other than a bed and a closet. And the most glittery, obvious trashcan that kind of looks a bit tacky, if you ask Ash but he's not one to judge. If she likes it, so be it.

He finds the attic a bit too dusty to stay and rummage around in so Ash goes back to his own room, having seen the whole house by now, other than the dragon den. Lance could claim the dragons wouldn't hurt him but the last thing he wants is to have nightmares about dragons storming at him. So he leaves them be, he would rather get introduced to them when Lance is there with him. The man's pokémon were prideful, Ash knew that much so he would rather show a bit of respect and get on their good side from the start. However, as he gets to his room, the boy starts feeling like something bad is going to happen. It doesn't lessen when he goes to sit on his bed and gets surrounded by his three pokémon.

In fact, it gets worse and the teen feels like he's going to cry soon, the amount of dread he's starting to feel is too much for him to bear. He doesn't want anything to happen right now, he doesn't want Lance to come back to a worse situation he's been called into the pokémon league for. Just as he starts to cry, he hears a soft coo from right next to him and all too soon, there is a soft tongue licking his tears off his face. Ash sees the pokémon a bit blurry but he can recognise Latias alright. There's another pokémon there, a wet nose is nudging his left hand and he tries to smile as he sees Shaymin crawl on his knee. He holds all the pokémon around him close, he doesn't want them to get hurt either.

There's something outside, it's looking for him, Ash can feel it get closer and closer. The feeling of dread gets worse and he has the nastiest taste in his mouth. He can't stop his tears either, no matter how much his buddies are trying, he's stuck and he's got no way of escaping. It's out for him, it's some kind of Aura but it feels so different from his own, so bad, it's like _death_.

"No, no, _no,_ " he sobs as he pushes his head against Latias' soft fur. "I don't want this, I don't want it to find me. Leave, leave, _leave_!"

As stuck in a panic as the teen was, as the feeling comes too close for him to bear, he forgot the effect he had on pokémon. And that they did listen, alright.

* * *

Dr. Knight arrives in Mahogany, feeling optimistic about today but also a bit strange as he wonders what it will be like, seeing this boy again. He hopes Ash has found his forever home in the man, he has recently checked in with the teen's mother and well… It wasn't looking good. Instead of blaming it all on her son, though, she had shifted on to blaming it all on her husband. All that while he knows the man was nothing but apologetic towards Ash and was doing the utmost to get to grip with his own stupidity and trying to get better. Red was trying to get CPS to at least let him visit his boy again too and dr. Knight isn't sure how to feel about that either. He knows Lance is very dependable but he's betting on a lot of horses and he does care a lot about Ash but the man can't be everywhere at the same time. Then again, as the boy's therapist, _he_ cares a bit too much too but Ash is such a special, if not sad case.

Arceus, he hates it when the nice kid made themselves nice because they didn't want to treat others like they were treated. And Ash is the perfect example of being smart and stupid at the same time, recognising the behaviour for what it was and never wanting to appear that way in front of other people and yet allowing it to continue, not realising it was bad all the same.

The man halts the moment he sees the house, it's really huge and kind of ominous. It's in a style he can only describe as traditional, pointed roof and everything. He's not visited Johto too often but he knows now that he doesn't like black lacquer on the outside of the house, it looks a bit too… evil for his liking. Then again, this _was_ the house of a Champion and dr. Knight assumes there's been a time where Lance wouldn't have wanted anyone to visit him. If that had been the case, the house was perfectly decorated for scaring people away. Not Ash, the kid is fearless and he knows houses don't attack people. Normally, the therapist would've believed it too but there was something amiss. In fact, as he goes one step closer to the house, it suddenly disappears.

'You're kidding me,' he thought, as he saw nothing but nicely maintained lawn and the garden of the house he presumed is situated behind the Champion's house -or rather, where it used to be. 'First the kid isn't there, now the whole house is gone!?'

He would've stepped over to examine the situation if it wasn't for the strange-looking man who suddenly rounded the corner. The therapist always tries his hardest not to judge people but this one looks like a mug. There's no ifs or buts about it, this person has trouble written all over them and dr. Knight curses himself when their eyes meet. Apparently, the man was looking for Lance's house too -or Ash, his mind traitorously supplies-, the address was written on the small paper in his hands, the handwriting bad and the ink was all smudged and ugly.

"I'm looking for this house," the person says, voice gritty and he holds out the paper for dr. Knight to see.

At this point in his life, the therapist has faced an awful lot of bad people in worse situations and he remembers he's holding a town map himself, his camera slung over his shoulder. He hadn't wanted to scare Ash into bringing the hospital back into his life either so he dressed up as casual as possible. It must've worked because a man had just called him a 'fucking millennial' after he had parked his car a bit oddly while he's already pushing his thirties so…

"Eh?" he asks, making sure to sounds as confused as possible.

"This. House. Address," the man growls, aggressively taping the paper.

"Ah, tourist!" dr. Knight says happily and raises his own town map. "Sight-see!"

If eyes could shoot bullets, he would have been long dead and buried by now. Thankfully, the man just turns around, thinking him to be useless. He steps away but the therapist can still hear how 'They got it all wrong' and that 'Brandon got them on the wrong foot'. Dr. Knight remembers a man called Brandon being involved with Ash before, there was some sort of misunderstanding there… but the name gives him goosebumps because this links the presence of the man directly to Ash, not Lance. This mug had been out to get the kid and only _his_ acting skills had saved the day. The idea leaves him reeling but the man is already on his way back to where he came from. He's still glaring daggers at him as he rounds the corner, though and dr. Knight feels a bit faint. He nearly keels over but a pair of steady hands stop him.

"Thank you," he murmurs, purely automatically. He can't even see who saved him.

"You have good instincts," his saviour says and suddenly the world clears up. "Though you ought to be careful who you anger."

"You mean, the mug?"

"Yes, that one." The man says, nodding ever so slightly. "Where do you need to go? Can I help?"

"I… the house. It's gone."

"You mean, this house?"

Dr. Knight looks over and his mouth drops open when he sees the house stand there, as if it never left.

"I swear it wasn't there a moment ago!"

"I believe you," the man says. "It's coincidental, I also need to go there."

"You do?"

The stranger doesn't offer any explanation but it's clear he's not in Lance's trusted friends' group because he rings the doorbell. The therapist has a feeling that this person is here because Ash called him. If he already recognised this strange man as trouble, the kid would've felt it coming from a mile away, there's no way the boy would've dealt with this positively. To his confusion, a young girl opens the door and while she lets them in all while smiling as sweetly as possible, she's not Lance. And she doesn't say a word either.

"… Something weird is going on here," the other man says and just as the therapist wanted to agree, he feels a hard tug on his pant leg.

Looking down, he sees Ash's Gible, trying to pull him along. Dr. Knight has met the little fellow before and just as the boy had promised, he hadn't bitten anyone, so he figures he can trust the pokémon to not lure him into a desolate place to slowly start eating him. So he follows the pokémon… straight to Ash's bedroom.

"Ash!" he calls out, startled because the boy is a mess.

"I-I'm sorry," the teen hiccups. "There… there was a-a man. I was scared!"

"I understand, I understand completely," the therapist says and holds him close. "It's okay now, the evil man is gone."

It takes Ash a while to calm down and come downstairs but by the time he's sitting in one of the couches, the girl that let the two men in is gone. The other man, who the teen calls 'Riley', seems bothered and restless. Dr. Knight takes his time, though, it's clear that Ash has been through a stressful period and the boy's complaints are very similar to what he knows a panic attack to appear as. He doesn't like how someone can make this child unravel but then the other man pipes up.

"Who was that girl?" he asks.

"Oh… That euhm… was Bianca. A friend of mine."

"Isn't half the world?" Riley sighs. "Does Lance knows you're inviting friends while he's not here?"

"He knows they come around, though."

"Hm… Alright, then. You're lucky dr. Knight was here, you know?"

"… How? What did I do to lead him here?" Ash asks and the therapist sees him getting riled up instantly.

"Did you speak to anyone about your Aura?"

"You and Brandon, duh. Who else? No one gives a damn, I can't go to anyone willy-nilly without scaring them! You _know_ -"

"Alright, alright, you don't need to go off at me like this," the man says and holds up his hands in surrender. "It's just… something must've gotten leaked or they wouldn't have been able to find you."

"And then it becomes _my_ fault when they somehow do, huh?"

"I do recall that man to have said something on how Brandon put them on the wrong foot or something," dr. Knight helpfully supplies as he gently rubs circles on Ash's back. He knows his patient is getting worked up because he's being blamed for things out of his control, just like he was treated in Pallet Town.

He didn't expect the other man's face to suddenly become so blank. Riley does apologise to Ash profusely and the boy accepts it, although he looks sour throughout. He soon leaves, though, excusing him that he needed to talk to someone and told the boy not to worry about the evil man returning, he would be taken care of soon. The look in the teen's eyes tells the therapist enough, though.

"He means well," he hushes. "He helped me earlier, I wasn't feeling too well. And no one helps a stranger out these days so…"

"He's supposed to help you or he'll turn into that evil man too," Ash huffs.

"… He will? That's… kind of creepy, actually."

"Being an asshole doesn't seem to have much effect, though. Dammit, why are things always my fault?"

The boy shifts uncomfortably and it's only now that dr. Knights sees a bit of green come from behind the Pikachu in the teen's arms. He sees the Shaymin sit there, with his own eyes and still…

"People usually have difficulties with their mental process of elimination and go for the easiest target. It's very human," he says, not wanting to make a scene about the mythical pokémon. Ignoring works fine too and it'll be better for the boy's mood.

"Aren't I lucky?"

"Then again, if a person throws a rock at a Tyranitar and runs before the Tyrantirar sees it and instead turns to you, trust me, it will attack you."

"Because they're moody, territorial and someone literally threw a rock at it. I didn't throw a rock at anyone. It's just the fact Riley doesn't understand what technology is like and I don't know enough to explain it to him. What I do know is that I haven't talked about it with anyone, besides even if I did, that the group chat with my friends is private so you can't see what I've sent them unless you're invited and those who have seen I've got whatever attracted that creepy asshole, have known it for over three years so there's no reason why this suddenly would happen right now!"

"Calm down. I'm not judging you."

"You better not!" Ash huffs. "I'm not in the mood."

He understands so he continues with his normal questions, he's genuinely curious about how life in this house is treating the boy. Dr. Knight is still filled with sympathy for this teen, even if he's filled with anger right now. Righteous too, which makes the situation a little worse. Still, the therapist takes pride in the fact he's professional and he _will_ get Ash through this. Whether there's a or a little humungous legendary pokémon on his lap or not.

* * *

The thundering outcall of Brandon's name startles everyone in the room and there's an _awful_ lot of people in there. No one can hide for Riley, though, not when he's in this mood. He's angry and for all the right reasons because if there hadn't been a creative and courageous man there to save his student, Ash could have been killed. Whatever this therapist meant by the house having 'disappeared', Riley doesn't get but he's too angry to give a damn.

"Brandon, you absolute _fool_ , what did you do?!" he cries out and slams the door shut and no, he doesn't care there are hundreds of eyes on him.

"Riley?"

It's Lance but the man shakes him off, stalking towards the startled man. He has a dire need to make this idiot understand what he nearly caused.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to back off," an employee of the pokémon league says. "There's been a breach in the pokémon league's system and-"

"Don't I know that!? The Fallen were right there in front of Lance's _house_!"

"The who?" Lance asks, persistent as always.

"The Fallen!" Riley repeats, in the same tone as before because he's still agitated. "They're Dark Aura users, the only way they can keep on living is to drain Aura users! They make hundreds of victims in a single year!"

"I… I didn't document the details, though?" the man offers weakly but the Aura Guardian shoots him a burning glare.

"Oh, but I'm pretty sure you've written all about what I've shown you, huh! How large the Aura pool was, that we couldn't see the end of it! Fucking _asshole_ , you nearly killed the kid!"

He's one split-second away from striking Brandon but Lance stops him. Good, Riley can trust Lance on being able to stop him, he's a lot stronger but _hell_ , he wants to punish this man.

"I think you've done enough," the man says softly.

Riley's anger isn't satisfied yet but as he turns to the side, he sees a lot of glares pointed at Brandon. In fact, Mr. Goodshow suddenly stands up from his seat and gives Brandon the order to check if the breach reached his files. The man still doesn't know how it's possible for such large screens to work but somehow, the whole room gets a visual on what seems to be a diagnostic search through Brandon's personal files. And yes, there it was, the confirmation that the breach happened in his computer is clearly there and Scott _storms_ out of the room.

"What's going on?" Riley asks, sounding a lot calmer than he feels. That must be the reason why Lance lets go of him.

"You can't hack into a computer unless you've got direct access to it, meaning someone's either broken into Brandon's home, which I doubt because the place is a maze… or Scott's computer."

"… I'll kill him too."

"You're not doing anything. You're coming home with me and you're going to rest."

"Lance, don't you get it? You could have come home to _nothing_ -"

"You're not going to gain anything from making me angry, Riley, trust me. You don't want me to tie the kid on my middle either."

"… This kind of thing, oooooh, I _hate_ it. I'm _never_ talking to you again, Brandon, I can't trust you or that damned computer any longer."

"If someone broke into Scott's office, that's hardly my fault!" the man defends himself.

"You don't know what you're saying! You don't know what the kid is, you had no right to document _anything_! I didn't permit you, Ash didn't and I know you would never have approached Lance for it!"

"… I'll remove it."

"Like heck you are! You're going to admit it's his psychic abilities instead! You owe it to the kid to admit you've made a mistake!"

"Riley, you're going to burst a vessel soon," Cynthia says and the man nearly jumps from his skin. He curses himself as he puts a hand on his chest, if he wasn't so distraught, he would have heard her coming from a mile away.

"I don't care, this needs to be rectified. Dammit," he hisses. "I _like_ the kid and I almost blamed him for something he couldn't have possibly- hell, if he had known any of the Fallen, he would never have lived long enough for either of us to meet him at all!"

"Yes but he doesn't, no does he? So, calm down. I'm sure Brandon will see sense and do the utmost to make sure we can actually _enjoy_ the rest of our holiday."

There was an awful lot of malice in Cynthia's voice and it makes the guilty-looking man nod. It will take some time for everyone to gain access to their accounts again, though, Lance tells Riley that these Fallen must have a link to someone inside the pokémon league. That's why he gives the orders to let the security footage to be checked and oh, yes, they have the perpetrator in full view. It seems like this person wasn't aware there was a camera facing Scott's desk all along and now Mr. Goodshow is under attack… because it's _his_ secretary.

"… He will be able to count on endless leave," the president says dryly but looks up at Lance. "Will he be arrested?"

"As we speak," the man answers.

"Good. Thank you, Lance. I… I will apologise to Ash as well."

"Oh, no, please, don't. It'll only confuse him, you have no idea how much he looks up to you and you _don't_ want to link that creepy guy that apparently scared him so much to you," he says quickly. "You're better of promising _me_ you'll find a better secretary than someone who needs to rely on helpless kids to live."

"Is that so? Is he that sensitive?" Mr. Goodshow asks. "Are you sure those regulations will help him, then?"

"I… still need to talk to him about it. Maybe I can come to you if there are issues?"

"Yes, absolutely, you can always talk to me about it, regardless of whether I owe the boy anything or not. And yes, I do promise I will find a better secretary, with your blessing, I'll allow the G-men to screen him."

"Sounds lovely."

Lance has to hand it to Riley, though, he managed to get this entire room full of people silent. He's worried, though, he knows the man for quite a while and he's never seen him this upset. Then again, his mysterious friend has an awful lot of secrets, one's he's pretty sure he's better off not knowing any of them. He does offer him to stay at the house as long as Ash remains there, he knows of Riley's desire to find a house but he's having difficulties deciding whether he'll even survive inside a house. He's already told him hotels feel too stuffy so perhaps his home, which is anything but stuffy, will prove to be a better stay for him.

Riley agrees and all too well, he deflates like a balloon once he's in the car and he doesn't let out a peep during the whole ride. Or at least, he does say something peculiar when they're almost at Mahogany.

"Did you know Ash has friends over?"

"Oh?" Lance asks because he's not at all bothered. He just didn't know the boy had any friends in Johto.

"There was this girl…"

"A girl?!" Clair exclaims. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, she opened the door for us. She left when that therapist calmed Ash down."

"What did she look like?" the man asks.

"She had brown hair and she did look kind of cute. Why?"

"Did she talk?"

"… No? Is that important?"

"I don't know. I don't think Ash is interested in romance, though."

"Hah, so looks can be deceiving, eh?" Clair chuckles. "Guess we're going to have to tell him about the Pidgey and the Beedrill, after all."

"I think he knows about that, there's only so long a kid can remain innocent while they have access to the internet," Lance answers dryly. "It's just that he told me that he's never felt like he's been in love before that makes me feel like either this was an innocent bystander or something else."

"Sure, let's go with that," she snorts.

'I feel like you need to spend a bit more time with the kid,' the man thinks as he glances at his niece.

He knows Ash's priorities lay very different from those of any other teen and perhaps it's not entirely wrong but it's definitely not right either. He wouldn't be comfortable with an overly sexual teen in the house but then again, hormones _are_ a thing and Ash is still so short and innocent in that way. It really broke his heart to have the boy sit down next to him after one of those typical love story movies Clair like to watch and ask him what that was all about, that he didn't know if he _could_ feel that way towards someone. Lance just told him that a relationship works very differently from those movies and that's it's completely fine if he never finds anyone, it's all got to do with whether you want to or not and if Ash is one of those people, that's absolutely okay. Ash is free to do whatever he wants, as long as he doesn't pose an unnecessary threat to others and himself.

* * *

Once back at home, Lance makes sure to get Riley settled into a room, before focussing on his nephew who still looks quite upset. Dr. Knight stayed with him and it seems like it's done wonders for their bond. He's pretty sure he's never seen Ash smile so gently at the man either but then again, it must mean the world to the boy that he had someone sit with him through this while he used to have been forced to face his world of horrors on his own.

"Thank you for staying with him, sir," Lance says, truly thankful.

"My pleasure entirely. He's a joy to be with and he's so honest as well. Also, can I congratulate you? Despite the hiccup at my arrival here, I've noticed nothing but positive things. He's got nothing but nice things to say about you and sure, there can be some disagreements from time to time but he's fairly positive about his stay here."

"I'm glad, not that I was worried because he _is_ honest but I… want to talk to you about something."

"Oh?"

"His injury will make his journey a bit harder for him so the pokémon league has some… regulations for kids like that. I'm not sure whether he likes the idea of _any_ help and when my niece told him he could have a pokémon league official join him, to keep him safe. He told her that they wouldn't enjoy their time with him and referred to his time in the hospital. He told us we should ask you why no one would enjoy it, do you have any idea why he would say that?"

"Ah," dr. Knight says as he shifts from one leg to another, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I can only help you with what I know but there… the hospital is a very close-knit community, there's a lot of people who see each other and face hardships together and well… rumours quickly come into play. Ash's case was no different, his eventually became sensational and I was one of the medics who blatantly told those spreading the rumours to shut up."

"What rumours?"

"The pokémon," the man answers and Lance feels like he suddenly understands because… Deoxys. "They want to play and I… I've thought about it for a long time before asking Ash why they're seeking such contact with us. Why _now_ , of all times? And a hospital? I honestly didn't make much sense to me but Ash's response made sense. He told me that they have always been there, we just weren't looking. And they're old, they've come into contact with people often but pokémon like Dialga are very old and they've lost their contact with humanity through time. He said that they must not have known how to approach people for a long time, not until they found a direct link again."

"It sort of makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Indeed so. I think it makes Ash a very beautiful person, to enjoy the presence of such old creatures and create that possibly forgotten playfulness in them again. It's refreshing, I don't think… I would be scared of them any longer. Not when I know that they respond so tenderly to such a young boy."

That too was a refreshing take. For all the Deoxys had approached him very creepily, it had not made any move to strike him. It nearly gave him a heart attack, yeah but it hadn't hurt him. _Or_ Ash, for that matter but that was hardly surprising any longer.

"I do like him a lot, hence why I wanted to hear your opinion on the matter. Thank you, sir, I'll make sure that he'll know that whatever regulations is made, will be one fitting for him and no one else."

"It's odd how such a special boy can't stand being treated like they are special, isn't it?" the man says and his smile looks a bit sad. "I think I can't forgive his mother for instilling that kind of doubt in him, it's very disturbing. You would think he would realise and allow it to happen, wouldn't you? Instead, he rebels and we're left wondering what we've done wrong to get that kind of reaction."

That made an awful lot of sense too but he can hardly force the teen to do something he doesn't want, right? He doesn't want Ash to start hating him, he would never be able to look at himself in the mirror ever again if it happened. But Lance knows his nephew is a kind boy so surely…?

"Well, I suppose this is my cue, then. Mind you, I think he's not just charmed Dialga," the therapist says.

"Oh?"

"I feel like it's counterpart made the house disappear, to make Ash escape that evil man."

"… Really?"

"Yes, I swear. I almost thought I was cursed to never make it to a house visit. Honestly, who even imagines a whole house disappearing, hm?"

"Well, I'll sleep better knowing Riley isn't the one who saved the day by sacrificing himself."

"Oh, no, no, I was the one who made the man leave, actually," Dr. Knight says and suddenly, Lance has found buckets full of admiration for the man. "Mr. Riley was the one who kept me from fainting, that's all."

"I owe you, sir, _thank_ you for keeping Ash safe."

"Mr. Lance, you've done me the greatest pleasure of being there while everyone else was failing and you're proving to be a great guardian. That is all I need from you, trust me."

He agrees quickly, he can see the tears brimming in the man's eyes and Lance doesn't want to make him cry. If Ash sees it, he might even think he was being rude. The man has no idea that the boy wasn't anywhere near the living room, though, no, he's gone up, to see if Riley's okay. All the teen sees, though, is the Aura Guardian stand at the end of the bed, giving it a helpless look.

"Do… you want some help?"

Riley turns to look at him and he shrugs helplessly.

"I've not slept in a real bed for at least a decade. I… I don't know what to do," he admits.

"Let me help you, then!" Ash says cheerfully and holds out both Pikachu and Shaymin. "Here, can you hold them for me please?"

The man accepts them but belatedly realised the mythical pokémon is snuggling into the crook of his arm. His heart jumps and his worries dissipate the instant he sees that the Shaymin is _enjoying_ itself in his arms as well. It takes a while before he can tear away his eyes from the pokémon but as he looks up, he sees a wonderfully made bed.

"You're good at it," he remarks.

"Thanks," the teen chirps. "Mom let me to it all the time, every time one or several of her friends came over, I needed to make the beds and make sure the room looked alright. She sometimes even let other people stay in my room but I had a secret bedroom in the attic. Mom never went there, despite her claim of liking every pokémon, she avoided the attic because Spinarak live there. I don't mind them, they were funny. And at least they don't snore when they sleep."

Riley puts the two pokémon on the bed and goes over to hug the boy close.

"There is a special seat in hell, reserved especially for your mother," he says and he feels Ash tense in his hold. "But don't worry, she'll feel right at home, I'm sure."

"Hell… Is that… like the distortion world? Where Giratina lives? I've been there, it's not that horrible. And there are no seats either," the teen answers innocently.

"In some cases, hell can exist inside a person's head."

"… Is that what's happening to mom now too?"

"Perhaps. What she did to you, Ash, you need to know it's inexcusable. If you ever see her again, know you're entitled to deny her any forgiveness, no matter how badly you want her to love you."

"Oh…"

"Think about it for a bit, okay? Maybe you can try to meditate a bit too, it might come in useful for our training."

"Every day?" Ash asks and he perks up at the idea.

"Every day. There are ways to deter the Fallen, after all."

"Fallen?"

"It's a story for later," he says and pats the teen on the head. "I feel like today's been hard on us both."

"Alright, tomorrow, then," Ash agrees and takes the two pokémon off the bed. "I hope you like staying here as much as you do, Riley. Though, keep your door closed, the dragons downstairs make a lot of noise."

"… Do you sleep with pokémon?"

"Yep."

"And you're bothered by the sound of sleeping dragons?"

"Yep."

"… Alright, thank you for the advice."

Riley would keep it in mind, he likes the sound of the outdoors and his room sits directly next to a tree. His skin tingles when he hears the gently rustling of the leaves… but if these dragons snore so badly, he feels like he'll keep that part of natural sounds out of his room, just like Ash suggested. He feels like he'll be able to learn a lot from his student as well and hah, isn't that ironic? It's fitting, though, it's about time he got an update too and well, there was no one better to tell you all about pokémon and life than a child so full of love for both of these subjects. Riley has no doubts whatsoever that he will enjoy his stay, even with the snoring in the background. It's only later, at night, that he realises Ash was _not_ kidding. Nevertheless, even as he falls asleep at the sound of snoring dragons, he figures he might enjoy having an honest student this time around.


	14. The Second Part of the Holidays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woh, this wasn't as easy as I though, nearly didn't make my deadline ;) But I'm here so yeah,
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well~

The evil man had become a very prominent part of Ash's nightmare last night. It certainly didn't help that Riley was apparently just as scared of the fellow as he was, judging from the stories he's told him. Apparently, they're some kind of zombies who need life in order to live. Due to some kind of sin they've done, their Aura turned against them so now they continue their life of sin by sucking it out of the oblivious. It's creepy and Ash is definitely unsettled by the idea that doing something wrong could turn your own ability against you. His teacher assures him that the sin needs to be unforgivable, such as taking another life using Aura or doing something much worse. However, despite Riley's insistence that they won't come to find him again, as travelling takes too much effort out of them and how they won't follow such a loose lead on a whim again, he spends the entire morning spooking him with stories. And at noon, just after dinner -where Ash hadn't eaten too much, the fact the evil man could have done exactly what had happened in his dreams was _not_ comforting- he sat him down and began teaching him methods on how to deter these 'Fallen' in case he encountered them.

"How many of them are there?"

"Five."

"All in Kanto?"

"No, they do move around and about. Trust me, the crime scene they leave is anything but nice. It's how I got to know Lance, you know?"

"… Did they kill a student of yours?"

"It was an accident waiting to happen, I could see him turn against me anyway. That he was making active contact with the Fallen was his own demise. There was nothing I could do to save him when he had readily agreed to meet all five of them at the same time. There… wasn't much of him left so I knew what had happened but still, I would like to save you from that fate."

Ash remembers how quickly he could feel this man approach and honestly, he doesn't think he could meet all five of those suckers without either hurling or exploding. Either way, _he_ had plenty of time to run but also…

"You're very insistent that they would have found me. Even though you assured me that only the good Aura users with the help of a pokémon could find me."

"I did say that and I still stand by it… but I'm just not willing to take the chance, Ash," Riley persists. "I'll sleep better at night when I know you can deter them from coming too near to you, they need to make body contact, after all. Don't underestimate how persistent, no, _desperate_ they can get, they're always hungry, parched, itchy, in pain, they'll do _anything_ to get the slightest bit of Aura."

"Sounds cosy," Ash remarks dryly but he's creeped out. He gets it, it must've been bad for Riley to see his hard work go to waste and it's never nice to lose something you can't replace… but scaring him goes against better judgment.

He's one story away from screaming and he's not going to be held responsible for it. Not when his teacher is being the personification of a very horrible Halloween evening. The fact that Riley is so distraught that he doesn't notice his discomfort is bad enough, he _really_ doesn't want to practise any exercise right now. All Ash wants to do is to curl up with his pokémon. Speaking of which, they seem to notice his mood pretty well, even Lance's Flygon has come closer than ever, perched right next to the couch he's sitting in front of, looking on with watchful eyes.

"I'm going to need you to learn how to _push_ ," Riley says and he somehow doesn't even realise how weird it sounds.

Ash barely has any control over his Aura, he's never been taught that. All he can do is meditate and the moment he tries it, the dream of the evil man resurfaces and his peace of mind gets disturbed. It doesn't help that the man in front of him starts to look desperate when he keeps failing but he can't help it! How is he supposed to do something he's never been learned how to do?

"I'm going to approach you with my Aura now. Maybe that'll help."

It didn't. As soon as Ash feels the slightest sensations of something, it could have well been Pikachu's fur brushing against his arm, he lost it. He did push and it made such a racket he _knew_ he had done it wrong.

"What's going o-ooooh, holy _shit_ , what happened here!?"

Clair comes flying down the stairs and Lance's footsteps are quickly approaching the living room too. Ash almost didn't want to open his eyes but he's not a coward so he does it… and sees he's just buried Riley under furniture. He can't even see the man and he hates the idea that he could have hurt him, what if his Aura takes offence to it, oh _no_ , what has he done!?

"Riley?!" Lance shouts. "Can you hear me?"

A groan comes from under the pile and Clair just has to turn to look at Ash to make him cry.

"Did you do that?" she asks, clearly annoyed by the situation, if not angry.

"I-I'm sorry," he sobs, wiping at his eyes with his sleeves. "I didn't mean to, I-"

"Go to your room," she orders and it hurts him so much, he was getting blamed again while they _knew_ he couldn't control it, they _knew_! "We'll talk about this later."

He scrambles to get up, he can't take any of this any longer, it's wasn't just _his_ fault and yet all he gets is dismissed, they won't let him explain! In his haste, Ash accidentally trips over Flygon's tail and falls hard, not having had any time to brace himself. It only makes him feel worse because it _hurts_ and he doesn't want to get on Lance's bad side for having harmed his previous pokémon. He hurries to get up, he does hear someone say something but he doesn't hear it. All he wants is to get up those stairs and into his room.

When he finally gets there, Ash goes and hides in the closet. He's had enough arguments with his mom to know that being in bed isn't an ideal spot to be in, she used to open his bedroom door and fling whatever the argument had been about at him. He still had a dent in his left lower arm where a can of expired beans had hit him out of nowhere. That wouldn't work now, this was a sturdy closet and Gliscor moves into it too. However would open the door would only see the clearly peeved pokémon, so it works out in his favour.

He can't stop crying but knowing that no one will hear it makes him even worse. Something about 'big boys don't cry' always rubbed him the wrong way but still, here he was, silently sobbing while holding Pikachu close to him. Gliscor is gently purring but Ash is too upset still to calm down because of it. It hurts to hear the pokémon stop, possibly realising that their efforts are for nought. Everything hurts now and the teen wants nothing more than for this to stop.

* * *

Downstairs, Lance worriedly gets his old friend from underneath the closet he's trapped under. Not too worried, he's seen heavier pokémon fall on top of Riley so he knows the man will be a bit bruised but otherwise fine. It's the entire situation that worries him, his friend's meek behaviour gives him the impression that Ash wasn't the only one responsible for this accident.

"What was all this about?" Clair asks angrily. "Look at this mess."

"I… I did tell him to push. I think… he just used the wrong ability," Riley answers softly and he sounds a bit upset too.

"That means you must have upset him. He would _never_ do this kind of thing without being spooked," Lance says and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Don't tell me you've been talking about that man the whole day?"

"… I need him to understand."

"I think he does, actually. Look around you, Riley, see how badly he wanted to get you away from him. You slid eight meters away and you landed against the door. He would've flung you further away if he could but the thing is, there's clearly no malice in his actions or you would have gone _through_ that door, or even the wall."

The man clearly feels guilty and Lance accepts it. Ash is a sensitive kid and if you're not paying attention, you won't notice him being on the verge of snapping. What he _won't_ tolerate, is Clair's meddling with _his_ nephew. She's not his main caregiver and she has no authority over him whatsoever. As he turns to tell her exactly that, he sees Ash's Gible bare his teeth at her. A vicious growl comes out of the creature's mouth, she apparently standing _too_ close to him or something but what worries Lance is that Flygon is making no move whatsoever to tell Gible off. In fact, his pokémon is giving Clair a dull stare, something that's not a part of his usual behaviour towards her. And then he sees it.

"Clair…? Clair, _don't_ move," he urges and his niece hears the urgency in his voice, she goes ramrod straight.

It's better if she doesn't turn around now, there is a huge, black shadow behind her and the two red eyes are looking straight at her. This is Giratina and it's not looking happy.

"Riley? Riley, do you know where Ash is?"

"In his room? That's what Clair ordered him to do, isn't it?"

The man isn't sure if it's going to be that easy but he goes upstairs anyway. They'll clean the mess up later, now he needs to make sure Ash is okay. At the moment, he doesn't really care if Giratina is there either, it cares and the way all the pokémon in the house behave is very… worrisome.

Lance storms up the stairs but he calms himself down enough to walk towards the child's room. If Ash is scared at the moment, the last thing he wants to do is to give him an even bigger freight. Honestly, what was Riley thinking, trying to scare the boy into taking him seriously? Hadn't he heard from the therapist the house had disappeared? As much experience as he already has with Ash convinces Lance that one of his big friends had come in to help him. Meaning the teen had a pretty good idea on how to recognise danger _way_ before it actually found him. Whether or not he likes the idea that these big friends will come to bother _them_ if they say something wrong is something he doesn't want to think about.

"Ash?" he calls out, before he enters the room. "Ash, can I come in?"

It's futile, Lance remembers having been a kid himself and the last thing he would've done is respond. So he goes in and is confused that he can't see the kid. He goes to check under the bed but there's nothing there, other than a bit of dust. The man frowns heavily and looks around the room, trying to spot something out of the ordinary. There's nothing strange nor is there any sound.

It worries him a lot, he knows Delia didn't raise Ash to be open with his emotions and the fact he hid them so well is not comforting. It's something he will have to mention to dr. Knight next week but right now, he needs to find the kid asap. His eyes search the room and they eventually land in the closet, it's certainly big enough for a pokémon or two and he knows his nephew will squeeze into anything if he's hurt or scared enough. That too is something he remembers doing as a kid.

"Whoa!" he exclaims when he opens the door and gets Gliscor's face into his.

The pokémon makes a very odd noise, it sounds like a huff and a sneeze at the same time. He's not sure what it means but he's got an inkling the pokémon isn't happy. Well, good, he's not feeling great either.

"Where's Ash?" the man asks and the pokémon's eyes twitch downwards for only a second before focusing back on him. It doesn't matter to Lance, he pushes the Gliscor's wing to the side and sees his nephew and-

"Blood!" he cries out and his instinct cause him to scoop the kid out of the closet the instant he sees he's injured.

It doesn't seem to be too bad, Ash probably hit something whilst falling that caused his lip to split and honestly, facial injuries always seem to bleed the worst in his experience. However, it's a spooky sight and it's gotta hurt too. The teen still looks upset so he goes to sit on the bed with him. At first, Lance doesn't know what to say to the boy, he's not sure what Clair said to him or what happened to make him this upset and he doesn't want to put his foot in anything still sore. Riley comes to his rescue, though bursting through the door in a hurry.

The man looks a lot more excited than before, for a moment Lance thinks the piece of furniture might have left some more damage than first assumed but then his face changes as soon as he lays eyes on the miserable-looking child. His enthusiasm is gone and he _very_ slowly comes towards the bed.

"Ash? Why are you sad?" he asks as he gently puts a hand on his shoulder. "Please, talk to me."

The teen hiccups once and says that he knows he's done something bad despite knowing he was going to get punished for it and now he's done it willingly and he messed things up for everyone, all while he wanted nothing more than to please everyone and yet… Riley hushes the boy after that statement and gives Lance a meaningful look before going to sit on the bed as well.

"Just because I underestimated this magic of yours, doesn't mean you did anything bad, Ash," he says. "In fact, I should have known, you do your best every time, don't you?"

"I didn't know what to do…"

"But you did it alright. Sure, there's a bit of cleaning to do but let me tell you, it's the least of your worries in all the situation where you can use this handy-dandy eject button of yours."

"… Really?"

"Absolutely. Also, since you've successfully completed my first lesson, I will be teaching you something I know you will be getting some good use out of. Seeing you love pokémon so much… what would you say on how I teach you how to Aura bond with them?"

"What does that mean?" the boy utters, still looking upset.

"It will enable you to communicate with pokémon. Not in words, though, it's mostly impressions and feelings. But it's wonderful for anyone with such a great love for pokémon to know they feel the same way about them."

Lance knows where this is going and he likes the idea of the boy just sitting with his pokémon _a lot more_ than having him stuffed into a closet, fearful of his own abilities. Talking about pokémon, he wonders whether the Giratina is still there or whether it's already left, leaving his niece to stand there for nothing. He does hope it hasn't eaten her, that would be unfair towards Clair. But still… how was he supposed to tell such a pokémon to give her back, hm?

"Come on, then," he says when he sees Ash's expression lighten up a bit at the prospect of that lesson. "Let's get you cleaned up okay?"

"'kay."

* * *

Ash still isn't feeling well when Lance carries him down the stairs. He doesn't remember having told the man anything about his leg hurting so he doesn't know why Lance does it. He's confused about a lot of things now, was his uncle ever even mad at him? And Riley was totally fine too, is that why Lance didn't say anything about it? But that doesn't make sense because Clair had been upset and she had told him they were going to talk about it and he's not looking forward to _that_ conversation. Because she doesn't know, she doesn't _want_ to, he's offered to explain his abilities to her several times but Clair always responded with the same answer, that she wasn't interested in that kind of stuff.

But will she still feel the same way about his 'stuff' now that she's seen what he can do? Ash didn't know he could do something like that, he hadn't meant to… Clair sure did seem to care an awful lot when she gave him that heated glare that made him hurry to his room. Mistake number two, in his honest opinion, he's pretty sure his lip isn't the only thing bleeding. It's defused the situation though, that injury so maybe it was okay that he had fallen. Flygon is fine too, he comes over for a sniff and settles down next to him on the couch this time around. Ash would have assumed that the pokémon would've been startled because of what happened but it seems he's overestimating how little everyone is impressed by this. God, if his mom would've been in either Lance or Clair's shoes… Just thinking about it makes him even less happy to have been carried downstairs, straight to his possible doom.

"Uncle?" he asks hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"… Will you stop Clair if she starts yelling at me?"

"She's not going to yell at you," Lance says.

"Thank you," Ash answers because he takes this as a 'yes'.

"You don't understand, I don't have to stop her from yelling at you, she's not going to."

"… She said she was going to talk to me about what happened, though."

His uncle pulls a strange expression, one he's already seen a couple of times already. He can't link it to anything else other than the other instances where he's said something he thought was normal but…

"She's not going to yell at you, Ash, trust me."

"… 'kay," he says.

"Why don't you go talk to Clair for a bit while I introduce Ash to an actual lesson in Aura? I promise there will be no accidents with this one," Riley pipes up.

Lance agrees though he seems to hesitate for a bit before leaving the living room. Ash didn't know where Clair was but his teacher catches his attention when he goes to sit in front of him. Now the boy has to look down to see him, which is a first.

"I understand you have a way to tell if people are lying to you or not, yes?" Riley asks and the teen nods in confirmation. "I figure that might stem from a natural talent towards what I'm about to teach you. You see, a Source is empathic in nature but not in the way that they can receive feelings from anyone. They _choose_ to care and that's why some Sources seem to be very hard to deceive, if not impossible."

"Really?"

"Mm-hm. I don't think you will have any issues doing this exercise either, you already have a good bond with pokémon."

"Is that necessary? I mean, pokémon belonging to people with bad ideas listen to them too."

"Listening to someone or liking them are two different things, Ash. Pokémon listen to me as well… but your command over them goes a little deeper than that, don't you think? Surely you must have noticed it too."

"Sure, I attract a lot of them but I feel like most leave after they know I'm okay."

"… Do they?"

"Yeah, uncle Lance's garden was filled to the brim with pokémon in the first weeks and when I went out to warn them for the dragon pokémon, most of them had a sniff at me and left."

"No wild pokémon has come up at me to check if I'm okay, though?" Riley says. "There's no predicting wild pokémon but be honest, you like every single one of them, right?"

"I do. I do like all of them a lot. They've done a lot for me without knowing it, I… I do owe them a lot."

"Oh?"

"Well, for starters, they were my ticket out of Pallet. They were also something to dream about and then later, when I encountered a bunch of them, something to dream off. I also met a whole lot of different people because of them and I've found friends of my own. Not ones who tagged along with Gary and then me because there was no one else available and who silently thought I was a loser," Ash sighs. "There's a lot they are responsible for… even the ones who attacked me, they also, somehow, made my life worse but also a better one. If it wasn't for them, I would have probably never met you again."

The man gives him a thoughtful look before nodding in understanding. His eyes glance at the Flygon next to him and a mysterious smile appears on Riley's smile.

"How about you try this exercise with Flygon, hm? Maybe you understand what I mean after that."

"… if that's okay," he says and gives the pokémon a doubtful look. "Can I?"

Flygon bobs his head with a short huff and shuffles a bit closer. Ash isn't sure what to do other than to listen to Riley tell him to touch the pokémon. He gently takes a hold of Flygon's head and nothing happens for a good while, other than the purr escaping the pokémon. He knows he's got warm hands and any pokémon, other than, you know, Fire-types, are suckers for warmth. However, something does happen when his teacher tells him to close his eyes and try activating his Aura in his hands. It's a niggling feeling in the back of his head first but as he focusses on it, he gets several impressions he assumes coming from the Flygon… as well as some memories.

Ash sees his uncle as a very young boy and judging from the angle, Flygon must've still been a Trapinch. He sees how Lance rescues him and the feelings the pokémon has for the man. He also knows that Flygon is very pleased that he likes the man too, now they have something in common! And then something unexpected shows up, he sees Clair look at something but there's a very large shadow behind her, it can't possibly be hers… It's Giratina!

He's bewildered and he wonders when this happens when Flygon shows the accident from earlier from his viewpoint. It's a lot more impressive seeing in from a different perspective… and it's obvious that it's left a mark on the dragon. He doesn't get any images any longer but he does get words of some sort. Ash has a hard time making sense of what he's hearing, though he's sort of hears 'beacon' and 'the lords'. Ash hears a lot of words he doesn't understand, though but overall, he thinks Flygon likes him.

When he opens his eyes, he looks straight into the pokémon's eyes and he can't help but smile. Flygon looks so pleased with himself, however, Ash can't focus on it long before Pikachu pulls his sleeve, asking attention.

"Did it work?" Riley asks, smiling widely.

"I… think so. A lot was going on that I don't understand, though."

"Maybe you can try it with Pikachu this time."

He looks at his partner pokémon and initially, he has no qualms about trying it, Ash trusts his buddy with his life and more, he doesn't even have any secrets either. There's nothing they don't know about each other, they've been together to witness everything first hand. They know what they dislike, what they love… Everything. He doesn't know why he's hesitating either but Pikachu doesn't bother reaching out for his hands either. He's already made himself comfortable in the teen's lap, gently purring in his own peculiar way.

"I think he was just jealous," Ash chuckles sheepishly.

Riley snorts at that.

"How long have the two of you been together?"

"Four years now."

"… Just? Huh. And yet, still such a deep bond."

"We've gone through some stuff, I guess that helps."

"It does," the man says. "Good job, though, Ash, you're a natural talent."

The teen ducks his head, abashed and a bit embarrassed. He thanks Riley anyway, he doesn't want to seem ungrateful and he does appreciate a patient teacher. Though, he does wonders what's so different, the man hasn't made a move to 'expel' him and yet professor Oak had enough of him after three lessons because he couldn't keep still. Considering he's thrown Riley through the room, his first thought is lenience but his teacher is also very human. Maybe there's a large part of his patience due to sympathy. Whatever it is, Ash feels like he's become a better person than he was yesterday, despite having made such a mess of things.

That being said, he still feels like a failure because he can't clean up this mess. He can fling furniture around but he can't straighten it out again and it bothers him because he used to be able to fix what he had done wrong. To realise that he's become a bigger issue than even he can solve is hard on him.

" **Then, allow me,"** a voice says and judging from the fact that Riley doesn't suddenly shoot up from his chair, Ash figures the man didn't hear it.

As if by magic, the furniture straightens and even slides back to where it stood before. It's impressive but the teen already knows who's responsible for it. That's why he barely reacts to Riley's statement on how he likes his magic a lot more.

"It's not magic," he persists. "It's psychic abilities."

"All the same to me."

"Look, I _met_ a magician once and-"

"You don't need to remind me why I don't like magic, kiddo," the man says and holds up his hands as if he wants to apologise for cutting him off. "I don't think I need to remind you of the fact that special people attract special situations?"

"There's no way Aura is responsible for _that_."

"Well no, unless you've felt it steer you into a certain direction, no but I was talking about the way we live, Ash. What are you going to do when you see someone in trouble?"

"I would want to help, so I would go to them. I'm shit with directions, though and if my Aura is relying on one foot to get the job done, I feel like it's in for a bad time-"

"Hands, Ash. It's called lending a helping hand. That's where your Aura is the easiest to activate, isn't it?"

The teen gives his hands a dubious look and he sincerely doubts that they can somehow be responsible for his 'interesting life'. Maybe Riley is so used to living outside, without much human contact that he somehow feels like his eyes are saving him from every trap possible, even if it's just because he's a naïve bum about everything modern.

"Is it though? I've been through enough to know there's only so much you can do when a situation has like a billion different outcomes and none of them is ever the only right answer."

"If you realise that, then why wonder why Aura is responsible at all?"

"You could've just said 'no' and get it over with."

"Ah, but what's life without a little bit of mystery?" Riley chuckles but he's the only one amused.

"… I still feel like you have a reason to point out that thing about my hands, though? _Is_ it important?"

"No flies on you, hm? Tell you what, I'll leave it for tomorrow. Our next lesson is going to have to happen early in the morning, there's this party I _absolutely_ don't want to be here for. So I'm going on a walk and I'll come back next year."

"That's fine by me," Ash says. "I guess I'll see you next year, then?"

"Absolutely."

In the meantime, he still feels a bit dejected at his own realisation that's he more trouble than he's worth. It makes him flee the room when Clair comes in, he remembers this 'talk' they promised to have but he's not ready for that, if he'll ever be. What are words going to do for him now, huh? Ash isn't sure whether she'll just forgive him, though, maybe she's going to check if there is damage or something but for now, he's still confused and hurt. His head is starting to ache and he doesn't need to have someone preaching on how he's not supposed to throw furniture at anyone, which he's aware of, actually.

* * *

Dinner had been silent and it makes Ash flee back upstairs. It's probably because of Clair, who tells him he looks horrible with that split lip, which is totally her fault but _okay_. So now he's sitting in bed, silently stewing on his own misery.

"I still feel like you are angrier than you let on, even if you have perfect control over it."

"I told you I realise that, no need to put your foot in it," Ash huffs.

"Are you not happy that I can to help you?" Mewtwo asks and the teen hates he's the reason for the hesitance in its voice.

"Yes but I… I'm not sure you can understand, I'm annoyed that _I_ couldn't do it."

"… Pride?" the pokémon offers.

"More like being completely useless but whatever."

"You are not useless, Chosen, anything but. I feel that the word you are looking for is 'helpless'."

"Is there a difference?"

"Absolutely," Mewtwo says. "May I sit?"

Ash scoots over instantly, a bit too far even but the pokémon goes to sit rather daintily.

"Did you know there is a city in the world that is sinking due to the weight of the buildings on it? That there is a dimension heating up so badly because the people on it cannot control their own greed and cannot understand what they are doing wrong? Several professors are wondering what was so different about the prehistoric pokémon and how they have changed in time without understanding that the pokémon of today will also be fossilized one day and that there will be no one to unearth and revive them."

"… Why are you telling me this?"

"To make you understand that there are worse problems than just a small boy accepting the help that is offered to him," Mewtwo says and the teen sighs deeply.

"I _know_ that. I'm just… I don't wanna just _use_ you guys."

"Why not?"

"It's difficult to explain, Mewtwo," the boy says and he shrugs. "What's the point in only making friends to use them?"

"What is the point of having friends when you refuse to use their gifts to you?"

"… I dunno."

"It is not the slightest bother to me, I hope you realise that."

"Maybe… Maybe it'll help if I… show you?" Ash asks hesitantly. "I've learned something on how to make a connection with Aura, it'll… Well, I _hope_ it'll be less intrusive than you just looking into my mind."

"I am willing to try it, I trust you."

Ooooh, the boy likes it a lot and Mewtwo is still as soft as he remembers it being. The tiny hairs make touching the pokémon quite the experience. And Mewtwo does have the nicest purr of all the sounds he's heard coming from pokémon, though Pikachu is a close second. He focusses for a bit and tries to recreate the feelings from earlier, when he connected with Flygon. It works perfectly only… it feels different. It's certainly less nice and fluffy, it's almost like… Mewtwo isn't happy at all. There's a change, though, there's a lot more pink emerging and Ash suddenly get a rush of information flow through him. The pokémon is looking for a forever home, where it belongs, a future, a _purpose_. Team Rocket stole that from it and it wants it back. The teen is sure if he can help but he sees how Mewtwo still visits Team Rocket laboratories, destroying their research and building.

It doesn't seem like the pokémon kills anyone, it feels too good for that sort of thing, though Ash knows it'll be pleased enough to scare people half to death nevertheless. A recent attack on a Team Rocket laboratory shows up and the teen gets tingles all over his body, he can read the research, he now knows that they are researching strange pokémon, he sees a list of names on the contact form and some are highlighted and categorised as 'risky because of loyalty to the pokémon league'. There is a professor in there and Ash makes a mental note to check out that name, he's never heard from this person before but maybe they know all about strange pokémon, like the ones who attacked him. And maybe they could answer his questions.

If anything, this constant persistence that it isn't _real_ makes the teen worry about Mewtwo, it _is_ real but how is he supposed to prove that to it? He knows that Team Rocket made it but they must have had a guide. It's pretty clear that it's not a clone of Mew at all and just because of Giovanni's lack of creativity to find a better name than Mew The flipping Second, doesn't mean they have much in common. Maybe that also has something to do with the difference in upbringing, Mew has always been free, whereas Mewtwo has only spent a short while out of human control. Ash doesn't want to do that to the pokémon either, he knows what catching a creature does to them and it's not a fate he would like to lay on _any_ legendary pokémon.

He knows he's hard to hurt and that he will live a prolonged life but it's not comparable to how the Kyogre who created the sea and the Groudon who created the earth are still the same. He won't ever be that old and it would sadden him greatly to ever needing to let go of any of his friends. What if he's not able to ever release them from their pokéball ever again? What if he has an accident and these amazing pokémon ever get stuck in there? No, he makes a vow to himself that he'll never try to catch-

"Friend, that is very noble of you but have you forgotten you have never officially released any pokémon? You have never broken their pokéball not your promise to them."

"… oh."

"Continue at your own pace," Mewtwo says and closes its eyes again.

Ash is bewildered but somehow, they've just spoken up _through_ the Aura bond and as soon as he closes his eyes, he sees another, peculiar memory of Mewtwo. It's joined by other pokémon, they are looking for… 'beacon'? The teen doesn't make the connection to who that is until he sees it. Those three _damned_ -

"Calm yourself, I am sorry. I did not wish to remind you of it."

Tears are rolling down his face and he can't stop himself from getting upset. Not because of the way he saw himself getting attacked, no, he had just _felt_ the emotions of everyone involved in it and he can't even start to believe how much they care about him.

"You know what you have done to deserve this kind of love, friend," the pokémon says.

"I know," he hiccups. "But I've had so many people turn their backs on me even though I've always tried to do my best and I never understood either side. I never knew what the difference was, why the one acted so nice and the other so nasty. Why? _Why_?"

"I cannot speak for the others but I cannot start to phantom what I would have done without you. It would not have ended well, that much I know but I could not have lived a life this nice without you."

He knows Mewtwo wants him to stop crying but Ash can't, he's feeling too many emotions at once to decide whether he's got a reason to stop crying or not. Something tickles his cheek and when he opens his eyes, he can see Pikachu licking the tears from his face. He wonders how he suddenly was laying down until he sees Mewtwo laying down as well.

"Would you like me to teach you the control you wish to have over your psychic abilities, friend?" it asks.

"Would you? It would mean the world to me, I love you guys so, so much but I would hate to rely on your help all the time. When you are there, I want to be there for you, I don't want any reason for you to be here, you can appear at your leisure. I… I want you to know I can keep myself safe even without you."

"Do you have something you will not grow upset at if it breaks?"

Ash didn't need much time to produce one of his Aura ping pong balls again. It grows a bit bigger than he intended on making it but Mewtwo seems pleased by it.

"Your teacher is doing you justice, friend. This is a very nicely sized sphere. And it is perfectly round too, wonderful. It is giving me a lot of sensory pleasure and I like how you choose something that cannot break. Would you mind if I took this with me?"

"Eh? No, I can make more," the teen says and smiles. "You like it?"

"Absolutely. Look how vivid it is," the pokémon answers and the boy understands what it means when it holds it against the light of his lamp. "Did you know that pink is the colour depicting the love of life?"

"I didn't, no. I do like living a lot."

"And you will be for a good while. I wish to spend it right next to you."

"A promise?" Ash asks hesitantly and holds out his pinky finger.

Mewtwo grabs it with one finger and nods.

"A promise for life," it says, a determined look in its eyes, which suddenly gets a lot more playful when it turns back to the boy. "Now, let us play."

* * *

Riley sneaks down the stairs, he doesn't want to wake anyone up, though he knows Clair is already busy preparing things downstairs. He's heard a bit of movement down in Lance's room but his friend is probably sleeping a bit too wild. Ash, on the other hand, is always awake when he is and the man knows their Aura have linked to each other. It's typical for a Source to do it but it makes little sense on how connected his student is to him, in the way their habits are syncing. It doesn't bother Riley at all, he _likes_ the boy a lot and he hopes the feeling is mutual.

Seeing Ash smile at him when he enters makes his morning, though because it pretty much tells him everything he needs to know. The teen pats his bed and even if he's sitting on it, he's still dressed in his pyjama's, looking terribly cosy.

"Had a good night?" the man asks softly.

"Amazing, how about yours?"

"I've not slept for long but that's fine. I was thinking, after all, and it still gives my body the rest it needs."

"That works too?"

"Oh yes, as long as you don't stress over being awake, it doesn't harm staying awake at night. I do prefer laying down but I guess sitting in the dark could be nice too. Little window open, a glass of water next to you, sounds absolutely wonderful to me," Riley says and smiles widely. "Enough about me, though, I promised you I would tell you about this gift you have due to your Aura focussing on your hands so that's what I'm going to do."

"All I know is that pokémon really like my hands."

"They _are_ very warm," the man says as he takes a hold of one of Ash's hands. "But it goes a bit deeper than just _liking_ , or at least, that's what I think. You see, a helping hand is pretty rare, always have been, no matter what some people say. There have always been overly greedy and entitled people complaining about why no one wants to help them but a really helpful person isn't just someone to give you good advice and intervene at all the right times, they are just _there_ for whoever needs them. With these pokémon suddenly latching onto you, I think that it's just all part of the attraction you have on pokémon in general. But as an Aura user, having your hands as the main attention point is pretty nice… but it's also a sign that you feel like defending yourself. Any Aura user who hasn't met you and just gets faced with you, all angry and mean, won't even _try_ to come near you."

"Oh yeah, because I'm angry and mean so often, aren't I?"

"It's possible, though. Just because it's not common, doesn't mean it'll never happen, remember that. Nevertheless, it's a sign of anger all the same but combined with your gentle nature, it's an unhappy combination that obviously leaves room for some creativity, wouldn't you say?"

"In what way?"

"I remember a very angry man, who also had his Aura in his hands, use them to see _through_ things. There used to be one who could just stop machinery at all, out of their hate for technology and progress. The more forceful the anger is, the worse the effect will be… but the more compassionate the character, the more useful it becomes."

"Looking _through_ things? And eww, technology is already one of my weaknesses…" the teen whines. "I hope I don't get any worse with any of it and that it doesn't make me any more creepy than-"

" _Creepy_?" Riley repeats and he notices he doesn't sound happy at all, less than he intended to sound like, anyway. "Who told you that?"

"It's the general idea I've got ever since I've been showing any sign of abilities at all. And well, that's basically what Clair straight up told me too."

The man rubs his temples for a little while, thanking Arceus for the fact direct people exist but _heavens_ , Clair needed to be more careful with her honest nature around a boy who took everything to heart. How was he supposed to feel good about himself when people disliked his abilities which were very much another part of him? He's not going to tell Ash about the woman's statement on what a bad omen it was for injuries to be eternalized on camera during New Years' Eve, Lance had told her to shut up about it too so he knows he's not wrong about his student's sensitive nature.

"You're not creepy at all, you're a young boy who is only just learning how to control new gifts. I want you to understand that you're entitled to your mistakes, Ash, even if you feel responsible for the _wildest_ of things. Like yesterday, for example, I know you felt guilty but you treated me like I deserved, I scared you and you _can_ show me exactly how you feel about that. Instead, you still listened to me, to the very end and I find that a sign of courage, which isn't creepy at all. Of course, with all this anger inside of you, your psychic ability is your first line of defence and I understand because you somehow get how little your Aura can actually harm people."

"Of course I do, I don't want to hurt anyone so my Aura won't either. My head, though… I'm not always proud of what I'm thinking off."

"That's your full right. If something makes you angry, you have the right to respond. I trust you to know right from wrong by now."

The boy nodded and Riley knew his student was smart enough to get what he was trying to tell him. There was rarely another chance to react naively when faced with someone who was out to hurt you and yes, despite all the years that have passed since the hunt on Aura users, there are still those who respond _way_ too aggressively. The only escape from them was to retaliate and then use the effect of surprise to run from them. With the teen unfortunate accident ruining his chance of running -or at least, for now, that is- it was better for him to show that he wouldn't stand someone messing with him. The combined smartness of a trainer, along with the psychic abilities and the uncanny bond of friendship with all those powerful pokémon could make Ash a _terrible_ opponent to have.

He's glad he's met the boy before the knowledge made him bitter and hardened, Riley's seen so many people turn away from humanity and he's not pleased to realise that Ash saved him from withdrawing into his own, comfortable bubble called life. Not that he doesn't appreciate the sheer effort the boy is taking on trying to understand and be patient, hell, the kid showed him how to use a toaster and he knows not a lot of people have the patience to deal with someone who doesn't know how a one-buttoned device works.

"So… how do I know what to do with this ability in my hands? If there is one in there?"

"Try things out. I'm sure you're creative enough to try a couple of things out. And if you don't know for sure, you can of course try and replicate any of the things I've just told you."

"Oh, alright. I… suppose I can do that."

"And remember, there is nothing unnatural you can learn. There's no reason to fear your own desires."

"Even if I want to hurt those who hurt me?"

"Are you sure you want to hurt them, Ash?" he asks and smiles when the teen sighs and shakes his head. "You just want to scare them, don't you?"

"With my hands?" the boy asks and he pulls a face as he looks at them. "I hardly think people are going to outright attack me and I'm not going to prepare for a war either, I refuse to become a pawn only to be used and left behind. I won't follow in my father's footsteps this way, I don't even _want_ to tell people I've got any ability at all, not if I can help it. Friends and family, yeah, that's different… But what makes you so scared to try and teach me these things? Do you think I need them?"

"For your own sanity, I feel like it would be a good call."

"Oh…"

"Think about it for a while," Riley says and he smiles as he gently pats the teen's knee… only realising he's just hit the boy's unprotected stump that remains of his left leg. " _Hell_ , I'm so sorry, Ash, I didn't mean to do that."

"It's fine, it doesn't hurt at all."

"… No?"

"No, it's fine. Walking around with my prosthesis hardened the skin around it a lot more so it's not that sensitive any longer. The first days I wore it, though, ho, that's a different story."

"Leave it, I don't like hearing talks about injuries," he says and he's already getting a bit uncomfortable.

Riley isn't sure if Ash is being honest or not but surely the lack of response would be telling, right? Either way, the magic of the moment is broken and he feels like his moment to leave has arrived.

"Surprise me, won't you? When I get back?"

"I'll try but how do I know when I've found something?"

"You'll know," Riley says because it will be a very obvious thing. He's not at all convinced that Ash will find one or any abilities for his hands in a day but he enjoys making his students come up with their own ideas. "Have you thought of a name for you Aura, though?"

"Beacon," Ash answers and the man feels the hairs of his neck stand on end in excitement.

"That sounds _wonderful_ ," he gushes. "Where did you get it from?"

"That's what some pokémon call me."

"How fitting, I love how Aura Beacon sounds. Good lord, it's amazing. I won't even ask for a second opinion on it, Ash, good job!"

"Aw, thank you," the teen says and ducks his head, abashed. "It's someone else's idea, though."

"I doubt they link it to your Aura, more rather, I feel like it's you as a whole they're referring to. But I still feel like it's a perfect title for your Aura."

In fact, the man feels a lot more optimistic now that he knows the teen is learning to use the lessons he's been taught on other pokémon. He doesn't believe for a moment that Ash heard that name come from another trainer's pokémon, one who seemed only ready to get into contact due to the fact it accidentally caused the boy to get injured, making it's trainer upset. No, his student used it on a _legendary_ pokémon and that makes him feel all tingly and excited because there is so much the boy could learn from any of them. It only remains to be seen if Ash can actually communicate with them and ask all the right questions… but he leaves the room with a spring in his step and the idea that his student can handle himself quite fine is more than a relief. There's only so much he can teach if the person he's teaching doesn't even put in a bit of effort to push their own boundaries, after all.

Ash, however, is left wondering if Riley has an idea he's just walked out of his room with glowing blue eyes at five in the morning. If Clair, who has been stumbling around in the bathroom -she's not that good at walking around in the dark and she's admitted to having a weak bladder- walks in on him looking like the spectre who just left his room, her scream will wake up the whole of Mahogany. Nothing happens, though and the teen figures the man has left the house through a different exit because he can hear Clair go back to her room shortly after Riley's left.

It sucks how he somehow wakes up whenever Riley does, though because now he's awake with very little to do. Although… Ash sneaks towards his desk, so he doesn't alert his pokémon he's left the bed -yep, they do drag him back in bed when they think it's too early. He finds his smartphone relatively easily, it's a good size and it's awfully shiny, though already covered in his fingerprints. The boy squints as the harsh light from the phone blinds him and he dims it down a little, just for his own comfort, before doing a bit of research on the name he's remembered from the memories Mewtwo's shown.

Professor Brunet appears to be an actual pokémon professor and it worries the teen because well… Team Rocket isn't to be trusted with _anything_. Even if this professor is kind, her research is obviously leaking _and_ is usable for some nefarious purposes. Part of him finds himself responsible to tell her about it, while another part is curious if she can tell him about the mysterious creatures that had attacked him. Judging from what he finds about her online, she's living in Alola - _another_ region he can't wait to go to but that's for later- and it's about noon there, so honestly not the worst time to call someone… He wonders what he should ask her, though because straight up asking her about mysterious pokémon isn't the best introduction.

Her Dream radar research is impressive though and it's way too complicated for any Team Rocket member to understand, though Ash has an idea how it works. It basically tells him that, if she doesn't know what these creatures are, they're not even something from another dimension. However, as he digs a little deeper into her research, he can also find a link to the phenomenon called 'Shadow Pokémon' and he smiles to himself. An innocent looking teen asking about them just because he's heard news about Orre isn't nearly as shady as someone straight out asking information about it, right?

So he _almost_ dials the professor's number until he realises he's still wearing his pyjamas and his hair was still in its bedhead state. Not that his hair usually behaved but it looked better when he combed it so that's exactly what he did. He grabbed a jacket to pose as if he was actually awake for a while and opened the curtains ever so slightly to allow some of the natural light inside. It wasn't much, it was winter and it was still early in the morning but to Ash, it was enough. Besides, the less she saw of his face, the better.

This time, he actually calls the professor and his heart jumps when she personally answers. Or at least, the woman looks like the picture he's found on the internet. Oh no, had he dialled her personal number?

"Oh, hello," she says amicably. "I don't think we have met."

"A-ah, no, we haven't, I'm sorry to bother you, professor."

"It's no bother at all. Can I help you with anything?"

"Ah, I… I was curious to know a bit more about Shadow pokémon and euhm… whether you've also found pokémon that don't appear here on earth."

"From the Dream Radar project, you mean?" she asks. "Honestly, the more we looked, the more obvious it became that the pokémon in other dimensions are very similar, if not exactly the same as the ones we can encounter here. So I'm not sure what you mean by pokémon that don't appear here, though I can definitely tell you about Shadow pokémon. Can I know your name, though? I don't like talking to strangers."

"It's euhm… Ash. Ash Ketchum," the teen answers and he curses a bit because his hesitance must've made her think he was lying and giving a fake name.

"Nice to meet you, Ash," she says and doesn't look like she's going to call him out on anything. "I suppose your curiosity about Shadow pokémon comes from all the publicity it's been getting, hm?"

"Yes, I'm planning on doing something for the charity event too but it'll be online and I'm not sure if there'll be questions but…"

"Ah, I understand."

The professor sounds nice enough about it, even though her explanation creeps him out. Apparently, people without the right gear can't see if a pokémon is caught in a Shadow state. To some, it's just pokémon who attack other pokémon and even people out of the blue while it is probably a Shadow pokémon. Upon seeing his worried face, she ensures him that no Shadow pokémon has been spotted in any other region but Orre, seeing they aren't interested in destruction at all. The professor explains that someone called Ein created a process that locks the hearts of the pokémon and basically makes them unreasonable, unfeeling creatures that will attack everything within view.

She does add that it's not impossible to befriend a Shadow pokémon, though, catching it and spending time with it can automatically purify it and Ash nearly lets out a sigh of release. Nearly because he knows now what Team Rocket is interested in.

"Is there another way to make those Shadow Pokémon purify? And how sure are we no one is trying to, you know, make these pokémon unable to purify?"

"Oh yes, there are other ways to purify them, of course. As for your other question, we can be quite sure, such research takes time, money and a lot of assistants and equipment. Orre is currently under reconstruction, most of the people living there have been evacuated to Oblivia and Almia, which are the neighbouring regions."

That didn't sit well with Ash at all, especially not when he remembers her name had been in Team Rocket's files that Mewtwo had found. He's not sure _when_ the pokémon had seen this file, though but it doesn't matter. Some people have the patience to sit and wait for _years_ … and most criminals have the timing to do their bad stuff right when he's involved with it.

"Oh, okay," he simply says. "Thank you, professor."

"No problem, I'm glad I somehow managed to help you. Though I'm curious as to why you thought I was the best person to tell you about Shadow pokémon?"

"I don't have anyone else to ask, I thought…" he shrugs and he's not sure how to explain it. "I guess I was just desperate not to get shooed off and be told to mind my own business."

"Ah, yes, I understand. It's very clear that there are regions that have put Orre and its situation in a bad light. Worse than it actually is. Though I won't deny that the situation in Orre was dire, it took a lot of hard work to finally uphold this generally peaceful state its currently in. Do you have a family member who was a part of the voluntary group that helped, Ash?"

"… Yes, he was. My uncle played a part in it, I believe. He doesn't wish to talk about it."

"I'm sorry, I hope I managed to answer some of your questions."

"You did," he says and he thanks her again… even though she hasn't answered his most important question.

To him, it's a sign she _does_ know what he's talking about but that it's something she doesn't want to tell him. In a way, it's her full right but Ash doesn't like how she thinks ignoring it will make him forget. Nevertheless, he's not going to press the matter, he wishes her a happy New Year and ends the call, unhappy with the results he's gotten. But Ash is wiser now, he now knows what his uncle is afraid of… but he isn't. Professor Brunet had been clear, the purification could start by befriending a Shadow pokémon and that was his speciality! He's not going to be afraid of any Shadow pokémon, not that he knows they've been forced into this mess. God, why can't people leave other living creatures alone for like, _two_ minutes? Do they always have to mess something up?

One thing is certain now, he's not going to get any sleep at all now and so it's no use going back to bed. But Gliscor is already staring at him with a look that tells Ash he's got a couple of seconds before he's going to get dragged back in it, so the teen closes the curtain and goes to lie in it. He quickly grows bored, though and figures he might just try out a couple of tricks Mewtwo taught him.

* * *

Just to be clear, Mewtwo is not at all a good teacher and as a pokémon, it's got very little regard for materialism and whatever else stops any other human from making their entire bed -pokémon and all- float up. Ash just copies whatever the creature shows and so he's just about turned the entire bed upside down while all his pokémon are looking peeved as he does. It's also the time Clair walks in and she can just stare as the boy, bed and pokémon float there, looking very surrealistic.

"… At least I can't tell you to stop making a racket," she deadpans. "Mind putting the bed back where it was and coming down?"

"This early? Is everything alright?"

"There have been snow warnings for Johto so some of our guests left their home earlier to get here on time. It's not snowed thus far, though, so they'll be arriving earlier. I figured you would have wanted to be awake and dressed for their arrival."

"Oh, sure," the teen says and he doesn't turn the bed around and back on the floor until he's on the ground first. "Who's coming?"

"A couple of people, Cynthia, Lucian, Steven, Wallace, I think even Palmer and Argenta are coming over."

"Frontier Brain Palmer?" Ash asks in delight because he might _finally_ figure out what's up with Barry too.

"Mm, it's been a while since we've met so I figured this was going to be a good opportunity to catch up on things."

… Or not. He wasn't going to bother anyone, whether it was the day of New Year's Eve or not. Ash hadn't known Clair and Palmer to be friends but okay, that was fine. He could still talk to Barry on his own, right? And oh, he still needed to talk to all his other friends! The boy felt compelled to at least talk to each of them before New Year's Day so he would have his hands full if this party ended up being a grown-up talk show kind of thing. Usually, adults didn't mind him sitting somewhere around their general vicinity so he figures he might as well get ready just like Clair asked and take his phone downstairs as well as Pikachu. Gliscor follows too and Gible is returned to his pokéball, unwilling to be left alone and also unwilling to move. Whatever.

Lance appears nervous about something when Ash sees him enter the kitchen and he's on edge that very moment. His questionable look is answered with a small smile which does little to calm him down.

"Are you okay?" the teen asks.

"A bit worried. You would be okay with attention, right?"

"Sure, I don't mind," he says because he _preens_ in the limelight. "Why?"

"People of Sinnoh have the habit to bring gifts for children on New Year's Day. Cynthia is not known for being subtle, she might bring a lot of things or just one, expensive thing. That being said, everyone coming has been told about you, Palmer told me he's bringing Barry along, though asked me to tell you to be mindful of what you say."

"He is?!"

"… I didn't think you'd be that excited by the prospect."

"I'm _burning_ with curiosity to find out why he's being bothered by everyone, I called out _two_ of my friends for being massively rude but I don't know what they're so angry about. Next to that, Brandon tells me that he wouldn't have even wanted to see me if I so much as acted like Barry and I think Scott is at the edge of a burnout because of this."

Lance and Clair glance at each other but then the man nods.

"I've also got a strange phone call early this morning," his uncle says. "How do you know professor Brunet, Ash?"

"Wha?... Hell, she really doesn't trust someone asking questions about her research?"

"Not someone asking about what I'm desperately trying to avoid, no."

"I wanted to know without bothering you!" Ash whined. "I thought I was doing a good thing."

"You could have waited to ask."

"There's no way you would've responded positively to me asking about that place and I didn't want to ruin today for you. I thought it was okay…"

"Kiddo, there's nothing you can do about it," Lance sighs. "But if it counts for something, she's going to call you back. Initially, the professor just wanted to know what was up with you asking about mysterious pokémon who aren't sighted on earth or registered in the pokédex."

"Did you tell her?"

"I figured it couldn't hurt, so yeah, I did. You obviously want to know and I'm not going to stand in your way but for goodness' sake, I almost a heart attack, getting a call from her. She was right there next to me in Orre, Ash, she _knows_."

"I'm sorry, she probably just… I dunno what she _or_ I was thinking. I'm not even sure if I was thinking at all, I just… sorry."

Lance easily accepts the apology, he goes as far as to say the teen's got nothing to be so sorry about, that he just wanted to mention the fact he should be careful who he speaks to. Clair gives him an 'I told you so' stare and it infuriates Ash to the point where he clams up and goes to sit somewhere on his own. His mood is spoiled and he refused to condemn himself for wanting to know the truth. If he had to live with the explanation Lance had given him, he would have to live in fear, while now he knows that he could work his way around the issue by just being nice to the pokémon. This still doesn't mean he's going to look for Shadow pokémon on his own, he doesn't even _need_ to ever meet one unless it's necessary and if he's the only one around in miles to do the job.

He goes to sit in the little nook just behind the couch, it gives him a good view of the grass outside, which always soothes him. The clouds heavy with snow pass by and a single snowflake makes its way down to the ground. It melts, of course, one little thing won't cause a mess as great as a real snowfall… A snort comes from behind him and Gliscor's wings fold around his arms.

"Hello, buddy," he chuckles, despite knowing everyone would be able to see him now that he's got the large pokémon leaning on him.

A loud rumble follows when he gently rubs Gliscor's head and he can't help but smile. Pikachu's now curled up on his lap but not asleep. He's got one ear up and it makes the fluff between his ears stick up.

"Pi," the pokémon says when he sees another snowflake float down towards the ground.

"Yup. I hope for Cynthia and the others they'll get here soon enough or they're going to get snowed in."

He's not wrong, the following half-hour is filled with snowflakes and soon, the dreary green of the grass disappears underneath a blanket of white. Not that he witnesses it, Gliscor is doing the utmost to lull him to sleep and the teen allows it. He doesn't think he'll be good company to anyone now and he knows he's deprived his pokémon of their early morning snuggle. Now is as good a time to make up for it so he closes his eyes and drifts off, while his hand is slowly rubbing circles on his purring Pikachu's back.


End file.
